


Star Wars: A New Hope

by AndiKeegan



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alicia Glass as Luke Skywalker, Andoni Drosselmeyer as Han Solo, Anna Beast as Ben Kenobi, Emery Hood as Chewbacca, Henry Glass as Darth Vader, Insert Characters, M/M, Quentin Rabbit as C3PO, Robbie Goodfellow as R2-D2, Sebastian Stalbaum as Leia Organa, Trans Character, ftm character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:28:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21822187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndiKeegan/pseuds/AndiKeegan
Summary: A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Prince Sebastian Organa races home aboard his starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save his people and restore freedom to the galaxy…
Relationships: Alicia Glass & Anna Beast, Andoni Drosselmeyer & Alicia Glass, Emery Hood & Andoni Drosselmeyer, Sebastian Stalbaum & Alicia Glass, Sebastian Stalbaum & Andoni Drosselmeyer
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

Tatooine is a desolate planet far out in the outer rim. Covered in vast expanses of sand, with large outcroppings of rock formations breaking up the seemingly endless desert. Life seems impossible here, but one would be surprised to find that while Tatooine is mostly unpopulated, humans, among other creatures, have found ways to survive there.

The planet and its moons floated through space around a pair of suns, blissfully unaffected by events happening so close by. A pair of ships raced past the massive desert planet, the first, a small rebel starship, and the second, an Imperial Cruiser. Laser blasts flew back and forth between them as the cruiser rapidly gained on the smaller starship. 

Inside the smaller craft, a pair of droids were making their way down one of the many halls, being passed by other droids and rebel soldiers as the ship was rocked by a particularly nasty blast. Both robots were old and battered. The taller of the two, a slender, human-figured protocol droid, constructed of bronze material, looked around the pair and put a hand on the head of the smaller droid, a green and silver, dome capped tripod, to steady himself.

The lights and small computers on the tripod's face flickered, almost as if she were blinking, and she beeped at the protocol droid. Her words went unheard, however, and another blast rocked the ship.

"Did you hear that?" The protocol droid asked in a proper, yet almost juvenile, voice. "They've shut down the main reactor! We'll be destroyed for sure." He shook his head, "This is madness!"

Rebel troopers pushed past the pair and down into the main hallway, readying their blasters and taking defensive positions. The ship rumbled once again, as the small tripod whistled.

"We're doomed!" Moaned the protocol droid.

The tripod chirped in reply, 'Says you.'

"There'll be no escape for the Prince this time."

The tripod said something else, but the protocol droid paid little attention as metal clacked and creaked, and the rebel starship was slowly pulled on board the Imperial Cruiser. The sound of heavy machinery screaming in the distance caused the rebel troops to look up to the source, before once again focusing on the door.

"What was that?"

Nervously the soldiers readied their weapons, they knew that many of them wouldn't make it off the ship alive, but they were all determined to do down fighting. Tense silence lingered for what felt like an eternity before sparks and fire burst forth from the door, followed closely by laser blasts from the coming Imperial Stormtroopers.

Smoke and laser fire filled the corridor, the deadly bolts ricocheted off the walls in random patterns, sending bodies to the floor, while those still alive hid behind doorways and storage lockers. The rebels began to retreat, clutching wounds and firing in the direction they'd come from. As the battle came further into the ship, an explosion hit dangerously close to the pair of robots.

"I should have known better than to trust the logic of a half-size thermocapsulary dehousing assister!" The protocol droid yelped as the pair began moving away from the immediate danger.

'You know what Q? You can suck my-' the rest of the other droid's angry remark was cut short by another explosion, and the battle continued to rage around the hapless robots. 

"This way!" The taller droid called, moving as fast as he could manage towards a hopefully empty hall, his companion followed, beeping out curses as a blast grazed the back of her domed head. Bolts ricochet off the walls just as they made it out of the direct line of fire. The first landed at the taller droid's feet, and the second burst the wall beside him. The force of the blasts sent him directly onto the exposed and shredded circuitry and conduits, where a dozen different currents turned him into a jerking, twisting display.

The domed tripod whistled in a shrill tone as she tried to help him free. He cried out for help and shot complaints at her all the while, and she chirped out something about leaving his sorry ass there.

A sickening cloud of smoke came with another powerful explosion, and the sound of retreating footsteps forced the tripod to leave. "Come back!" Cried the protocol droid, "Don't just abandon me! What's the matter with you!"

Only one corridor away, the Sith Lord Darth Vader entered the rebel starship. Dressed in all black, Lord Vader stood at seven feet tall, from his shoulders hung a floor-length cape. His face was covered by a grotesque mask that caused his breath to come out as a rhythmic mechanical sound and his voice to be deeper and far more sinister than any normal person's should be. He stood out elegantly when next to the fascist white armour of the Imperial Stormtroopers. 

Fear followed the footsteps of all the Dark Lords, but the cloud of evil that emanated from Vader was intense enough to cause hardened imperial troops to back away, menacing enough to send his own men muttering nervously amongst themselves. A deadly silence fell over the few rebel troops left in the main hall, who quickly turned tail and ran from the man who could more accurately be described as a black-clad devil.

But as black as his armor was, it was nothing compared to the sinister thoughts that boiled in Vader's brain. One thought was an obsession now, dominating all other issues as he turned down a passageway in the broken fighter, bodies littered the floor as the smoke there began to clear, but he stepped over them as if they didn't even exist. The battle here had ended and moved on, the screams and laser fire echoing off the walls from far ahead.

He stopped to momentarily glance at the writhing form of the bronze protocol droid, that with a wave of his hand was yanked free of the cables and electrical currents as if he was disgusted by the sight of it. Vader turned from the droid without a word, leaving it on the floor as he disappeared.

The tripod droid stood in a dark maintenance hallway in front of a human figure, the lights on her computer face indicated that she was recording the human. Footsteps came from the entrance of the hall, and the human looked, startled, between the source of the sound and the droid. A pale hand placed a data card into her computer face as a voice called out. "R0!" She turned to look and saw that it was the bronze protocol droid, "R0-B3 where are you?!" He looked around with a face that, had he been human, would have been twisted in fear and worry. 

A clanking sound attracted his attention, and he met the tripod droid, unit R0-B3's gaze as she stood at the other end of the hall in a smoke-filled alcove. 

A beautiful young man, around nineteen years old, stood in front of R0. Surreal and out of place, dreamlike and hidden in smoke, he finished adjusting something on the droid's computer face and then slipped into the shadows watching as R0 waddled towards her companion before extending her third leg and rolling the rest of the way to him.

"At last! Where have you been?" The protocol droid, who elected to chock the human up to a glitch caused by the electrical surge, gave R0 no time to answer, as the sound of stormtroopers approaching had him speaking once more. "They're heading in this direction! What are we going to do? We'll be sent to the spice mines of Kessel- or smashed into who knows what!" The taller droid's panicked ramblings seemed to almost bore the R0 unit, who maneuvered around him to rush down a sub-hallway, her companion quickly chasing after her. "Wait a minute! Where are you going?"

'Where does it look like I'm going genius?'

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vader stood among the broken, twisted bodies of stormtroopers and rebel soldiers alike, looking over the damage. At his feet was a wounded officer, struggling to get away from him. This man was quickly lifted to his feet by his throat and clawed at the Sith Lord's hand. To his left, an Imperial Officer approached. "The Death Star plans are not in the main computer." He informed, and Vader's gaze moved to the rebel in his grip.

The Sith Lord's deep, chilling voice came through his mask. "Where are those transmissions you intercepted?" He asked with venom, lifting the man's feet off the ground. "What have you done with those plans?"

"We intercepted..no transmissions!" The rebel choked, continuing to claw at the hand around his throat, "This is a consular ship…we're on a diplomatic mission.."

"If this is a consular ship, where is the Ambassador?" When the rebel refused to speak Vader tightened his grip, squeezing until there is a sickening snap and the man went lifeless in his hand. Without a second thought, the rebel's lifeless body was tossed against the nearby wall, discarded. Vader turned to the Imperial Officer at his left, "Commander tear this ship apart until you've found those plans, and bring me the passengers, I want them alive!" With a gesture, Vader sent stormtroopers scurrying down the hallways, while the commander followed the Dark Lord in the direction of the cockpit.

"The markings on this ship match those of the royal family of Alderaan. If any of them are on board alert me immediately."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the smoky alcove of one of the sub-hallways, the beautiful young man hid from the approaching stormtroopers. He was dressed in white Senate robes and had his hood pulled over his combed blonde hair. His green eyes were full of fear, but as the stormtroopers passed by their crushing footsteps made his fear give way to anger. He ducked out of sight as several of them entered the sub-hallway, but it was too late.

"There he is," One alerted the others, "Set of stun!" The young man stepped from his hiding place and blasted one of the troopers with his laser pistol, before attempting to run from the soldiers. The attempt was fruitless as one of them shot him and he collapsed to the floor. One of the stormtroopers kicked him lightly before announcing, "He'll be alright. Inform Lord Vader we have a prisoner." As they hauled him to his feet, he thought over the events that had gotten him to this point.

They'd just received the plans for the Death Star, hope was in their hands and they had blasted into hyperspace away from the planet Skariff with the Empire in the dust but hot on their tail. He hadn't expected the Imperial fleet to catch up to them so quickly, but before he knew it the data card was in his hand, and Captain Antilles was directing him to the very alcove he was being dragged from now. "Stay here Your Highness, we'll hold them off." The captain had told him, but he barely registered the words, he'd been too busy formulating a way to ensure the plans made it to Alderaan. When the captain disappeared into the main hall, Sebastian found himself drawn to a window, spotting the enormous desert planet below them. Tatooine, his memory supplied as he gazed down at it. That would be a better place for the plans than on this ship, the only problem was that he had no way of getting the data card down there.

The planet was special, though it didn't look it. It was the hiding place of a person of some importance to his father, the Jedi Knight Lura-Rei, one of the last Jedi left alive after The Great Purge. Sebastian had grown up on stories of this legendary warrior, and if there was even a glimmer of truth to them, he knew that the plans would be far safer with her.

The sound of blaster fire made him flinch, and he ducked further out of sight, running over every option he had for the third time. There was no way he was going to escape, even if he managed to make it to an escape pod, the Imperial Cruiser had life detecting equipment and would shoot the pod as soon as it jettisoned. The cold realization settled in his chest that he would either be captured or killed by the Empire, maybe both if he was unlucky enough. He pressed his back against the cold metal of the ship's wall and cursed his mind racing, he was running out of time, there had to be a way to get the plans down to the planet.

The Prince took a breath and straightened to his full height, and like it was fate he turned to find a familiar R0 unit making her way down the sub-hallway. That was the answer.

"Hey!" He hissed at the droid, waving her over "R0-B3, come here." He placed a hand on the droid's head, "I need your help with a very important mission. Could you record a message for me?" R0 whistled in reply and a small smile crossed Sebastian's face. "Thank you, little friend." R0-B3 would get the job done where he couldn't, she was a spunky little droid. "Listen to me carefully R0. I need you to find a way off the ship, on the planet below is someone who can help us, help the Rebellion."

It took less than two minutes, two incredibly tense minutes, to give the droid the name and record his message, he'd done his best to be professional, but there was fear in the last of his speech, this little droid held the fate of the Rebellion in her memory, he hoped she wouldn't fail.

Sebastian jumped when he heard footsteps and a voice, quickly inserting the data card into R0-B3's computer face. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Q-310, an old protocol droid that rarely left R0-B3's side. He rested his hand on the R0 unit's head, "I'll buy you some time," he'd said before sending R0 back to her counterpart and ducking into the shadows. He watched as they disappeared down another sub-hall, and he pulled his blaster from its hold at his hip, silently thanking his father for every combat lesson he'd ever had to take.

Now he was being shoved through the halls of his ship by stormtroopers; his hands bound in front of him by cuffs.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q-310 followed behind R0-B3 as she stopped in front of the hatch of an emergency escape pod. She quickly attached herself to the door controls and opened the pod before hobbling inside the cramped four-man space. "Hey," Q-310's voice called out to her, "You're not allowed in there." She ignored him and he raised his voice "It's restricted! You'll be deactivated for sure!"

'Shut up you mindless philosopher, do you think that matters right now? Who's gonna deactivate me for this when all our commanders are dead?' R0 beeped back at him. She had no time for her old friend's anxiety.

"Don't call me a mindless philosopher you overweight glob of grease! Now get out of there before someone sees you!" The protocol droid seemed more concerned with the insult than the rest of what his counterpart had said.

'I'm on a secret mission, I need to get the plans to Tatooine,  _ now _ . Are you coming with me or not?' R0 chirped in reply, moving further into the pod.

"Secret mission?" Q-310 couldn't believe how absurd his friend sounded, "What plans? What are you talking about? I'm not getting in there!"

'Listen you little shit,' R0-B3 beeped angrily, 'it's either get in the pod or end up as scrap metal, I'll let you pick which you'd rather-' She was interrupted by another explosion, this one much closer than before, that sent dust and debris everywhere, it was enough to make Q-310 change his mind and follow her into the pod.

"I'm going to regret this." He moaned as the door shut and the pod jettisoned. On the Imperial Cruiser, a scanner picked up the pod's presence.

"There goes another one." A gunman alerted the captain, who looked at the scanner.

"Hold your fire." He said, "There's no life forms, it must have short-circuited."

Inside the pod, Q-310 watched as the ships grew further and further away, stars swirled around the droids as the pod floated towards Tatooine. "That's funny," the protocol droid remarked, "the damage doesn't look as bad from out here." R0-B3 chirped in response and Q-310 turned to look at her, "Are you sure this thing is safe?"

'Pretty sure.'

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Far below, on the planet's surface, a young woman, about nineteen years old, dressed in a simple light tunic and pants stood under the twin suns. She had a very youthful face, soft, unaffected by hardship. Her eyes were a sparkling blue, and her smile could bring even the most grumpy of individuals to smile as well. The wind whipped her blonde hair into her face and she paused to pull it back into a loose bun before returning to her work, adjusting valves on a battered moisture vaporator that stuck out of the ground. Blinking lights toped the antennae attached to the pipes.

It was an old settlers' saying that you could burn your eyes out faster by staring straight and hard at the sun-scorched flatlands of Tatooine than by looking directly at its two huge suns themselves, so powerful was the penetrating glare reflected from those endless wastes. Despite the glare, life could and did exist in the flatlands formed by long evaporated seabeds. One thing made it possible: the reintroduction of water.

For human purposes, however, the water of Tatooine was only marginally accessible. The atmosphere yielded its moisture with reluctance. It had to be coaxed down from the hard blue sky, which was the purpose of the vaporator and the young woman working on it. Alicia Skywalker was nearly twice the age of the battered machinery, but not as secure. At the moment she was swearing softly at a rather difficult valve adjuster, every so often resulted to unceremonious pounding in place of using the appropriate tool. Neither method seemed to work very well. It seemed the lubricant that kept the vaporator running's only real job was attracting sand, which clogged the machine and stalled the farming of moisture.

Assisting her was a droid as battered as the vaporator, composed of multiple limbs, each holding tools, on a powering base. The small robot was barely functional, and its movement were jerky. As she worked, she occasionally said something to the droid over the wind, pointing out something that it could reach that she couldn't, or asking for a tool.

In the distance, high above her, a sparkle caught her eye and she quickly pocketed her tools pulling a carefully maintained pair of electrobinoculars from her belt. She observed the sky through the binoculars, squinting up at the sky and trying not to accidentally look at one of the twin suns. It was difficult, even with the enhancement, but she made out the shape of two ships in the midst of a firefight.

Her eyes lit up and she quickly attached the electrobinoculars to her utility belt, before running back to her land-speeder, a beat-up and crudely repaired auto-like transport, that used a magnetic field to hover a few feet off the ground. As she made to climb into the driver's seat, she motioned for the little droid to follow her.

"Hurry up! Come with me!" She called out to it, "What are you waiting for? Get in gear!" The droid spun in a tight circle and made to follow her, but barely made it a foot before it jolted suddenly, and smoke began to pour from every joint and valve. Alicia threw her hands up with a curse and watched the little robot for several moments before huffing and climbing into the land-speeder. She barely glanced back at the smoldering droid as she sped off down the desert. It would be gone by the time she made it back to the vaporator, there were plenty of scavengers of metal and flesh alike roaming the desert sands.

Heatwaves radiated off the twelve or so white dome buildings that made up the town of Anchorhead which the land-speeder moved towards, its driver was so giddy that she could hardly sit still. The vehicle had hardly stopped before she jumped out, stumbling as she made a beeline for the nearest building. An older creature shouted after her to slow down, but she paid no attention. Bursting into the office of the station she woke a rather grouchy looking man and the attractive woman sleeping in his lap.

"Did I hear a young noise blast through here?" The man asked as the young woman disappeared to another room.

The attractive woman rolled her eyes. "It's just Wormie on another one of her rampages." She informed him, readjusting her position in his lap.

Alicia clipped a wall as she ran into the next room, where three young men around her age were playing some sort of game akin to pool. In the back of the room, a droid was doing repairs on a piece of machinery. 

"Shape it up, you guys!" She chirped to Deak and Windy who were facing her but stopped short when she saw the tallest of the three. "Biggs?" 

The handsome, burly young man, only a few years older than the rest of the group, turned to face her. His flashy city clothes were a sharp contrast to the farm boys' simple tunics and made her jaw drop, she'd never seen him this cleaned up before. Alicia's surprise was short-lived and made way for joy as he ran over and gave her a big bear hug. When he pulled away, she spoke again. "I didn't know you were back! When did you get in?"

"Just now, I wanted to surprise you, hotshot. I thought you'd be here," He playfully punched her shoulder and laughed, "I certainly didn't expect you to be out there working."

She laughed along with him, "The academy didn't change you much…but... you're back so soon." He sighed, which prompted a look of upset to cross her face, "Hey, what happened, didn't you get your commission?" He smirked and rolled his eyes, but the air of cool around him seemed off, slightly phony.

"Of course I got it. Signed aboard The Rand Ecliptic last week. First Mate Biggs Darklighter at your service." He saluted, which caused Alicia to giggle. "I just came to say goodbye to all of you unfortunate landlocked simpletons." This time Deak and Windy joined in the laughter. Alicia was almost lost in utter awe of her best friend, but she abruptly snapped out of it. 

"Oh, I almost forgot!" She squeaked, "There's a battle going on! Right here in our system," she grabbed Biggs' arm and started tugging him towards the door, "Come and look!"

"Not again!" Deak groaned, tossing one of the balls they were playing with into the air and catching it. "Haven't you dreamed up enough imaginary star fights, Alicia? Forget it."

"Forget it, hell - I'm serious. It's a battle all right."

With words and shoves, Alicia managed to drag the rest of the group outside into the stifling desert sun, the grouchy man and the attractive woman both grumbled out complaints as they shielded their eyes. The younger woman paid them no mind as she scanned the skies. "There they are!" She exclaimed and Biggs took the electrobinoculars from her, looking where she indicated. The others struggled to see anything with the naked eye, while all Biggs could make out are two silver specks.

"That's no battle, hotshot. They're just sitting there!" He looked back down, moving the binoculars away from his face, "Probably a freighter-tanker refueling."

"But there was a lot of firing earlier…" She bit her lip, had she been wrong? Behind her, the attractive woman grabbed the binoculars away from Biggs, accidentally banging them into the building behind them. Alicia quickly snatched them away from her. "Be careful with those Camie!"

"Don't worry about it, Wormie." She replied as Alicia checked her precious equipment. The mechanic sighed, putting a hand on the younger woman's shoulder, giving the farm girl a hard look.

"I keep telling you Skywalker, the Rebellion is a long way from here." He held the air of a man tired of explaining the same thing over and over, and it made Alicia shrink behind Biggs a little bit. "I doubt the Empire would even fight to keep this system, and even then, we're so far out from any civilized system that the Rebellion wouldn't have the time for this big hunk of nothing." He pulled his hand away and took Camie's arm, walking back inside with her while they grumbled mildly unkind things about the farm girl. Even Deak and Windy were muttering to each other about her.

Biggs put a hand on her shoulder, "Come on Alicia, let's go back inside." She sighed, defeated, and cast one last glance skyward before nodding and following him. She was certain of one thing though, those flashes she'd seen between the two ships weren't caused by the suns of Tatooine reflecting off metal.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sebastian tried to peer over the stormtrooper's shoulders as they forced him forward. At 5'10" the prince was by no means short, but he noticed that almost everyone in league with the Empire, the stormtroopers especially, seemed to tower over him. "Watch it!" He snapped after a particularly rough push from one of the troopers behind him, "I'm a member of the Imperial Senate, not some common criminal!" They eased up a bit at that, and Sebastian felt a bit of a smirk pull at his lips. As they rounded a corner, the Prince saw Vader emerge from another smokey hallway, he'd only ever encountered the Sith Lord once before, and he had never wanted to again. He was pushed in front of the Dark Lord, who stared down at him coldly, but Sebastian stood with his head high.

"Lord Vader. Only you could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not sit still for this." He snapped, "When they learn you attacked a diplomatic-"

The young Senator was cut off by Vader, who sounded almost amused by his words. "Don't act so surprised, Your Highness, you weren't on any mercy mission this time. You passed directly through a restricted system, ignoring numerous warnings and completely disregarding orders to turn about- until it no longer mattered." Sebastian kept his dignity visible in every aspect, and if it was possible, he grew more indignant at the older man's tone. "Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you."

Sebastian shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan." His words seemed to enrage the Sith Lord.

"You are part of the Rebel Alliance, and a traitor." He snarled, jabbing a finger at the prince, making him flinch away, before gesturing to the troopers, "Take him away!"

Sebastian was led down the hallway and through the hole blasted in the side of the ship. After watching him disappear around the corner, an Imperial Commander turned to Vader and the pair begin to walk in the opposite direction. "Holding him is dangerous." The commander told him, "If word of this gets out, it could generate sympathy for the Rebellion in the Senate."

"I have traced the Rebel spies to him. Now he is my only link to finding their secret base."

"He'll die before he tells you anything, it would be better to simply destroy him now. That decision must be made."

"Leave that to me, my primary duty is to obtain that location and the tapes that were stolen from the empire. And with the rebels responsible now dead, he is the well of information that I need to break." Vader told him, "Now, send a distress signal, and inform the Senate and his father that all aboard were killed." It was then that an officer approached the pair.

"Lord Vader, the battle station's plans are not on this ship, and no transmissions were made. There is no other valuable information in the ship's storage banks and there is no evidence of a bank erasure. An escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting, but there were no life forms onboard."

"He must have hidden the plans in the escape pod, the tapes wouldn't give off a living signal. A local wouldn't know its importance and would erase it for their own use should they find it." Vader mused aloud before turning back to the commander. "Nonetheless, send a detachment down to the planet retrieve them. See to it personally, Commander. There will be no one to stop us this time." 

"It shall be as you command, my Lord." With a nod, Vader turned and walked down the hall, returning to the Imperial Cruiser.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

The looming mass of the Imperial Stardestroyer slowly glided above the sand planet’s atmosphere, inside it, a battalion of Stormtroopers prepared to travel to the planet’s surface in search of the missing plans.

Far below, Q-310 and R0-B3 clumsily made their way across the desert known as the Jundland wastes. A good distance behind them, their escape pod lay open, half-buried in the sand, it was unclear how long they’d been walking, but they’d gone quite a distance, the pod a mere speck by the time Q-310 voiced his dislike of the situation.

“How did I get into this mess?” He moaned, looking up at the twin suns. “I really don't know how. We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life.” If R0 had eyes she surely would have rolled them.

‘If I had known you would complain this much, I would have left you back on the ship.’ She blipped, looking across the vast expanse of desert.

“I’ve got to rest before I fall apart. My joints are almost frozen.”

‘I’m so sorry you poor baby.’ R0 beeped as Q-310 stopped to knock some sand from his leg joints. When he caught up to her they walked in silence for another long stretch of time, everything around them was sand, sand, sand and more sand. Dunes upon dunes stretching out for miles in every direction, something deep in Q-310’s circuits recalled stretches of sand like this, but he shook his head, it was probably a glitch.

“What a desolate place this is.”

Suddenly R0 whistled and made a sharp right turn. ‘Come on Q-3!’ He turned and shook his head a little.

“Where are you going?”

‘Where does it look like I’m going genius?’ She replied, turning her head to look at him with the camera of sorts on her ‘face’.

“Well, I'm not going that way.” Q-310 scoffed and then pointed in the opposite direction. “It's much too rocky. This way is much easier.”

The long exasperated whistle that followed asked, ‘Don’t you want to find a settlement? Maybe get yourself cleaned up?’

“What makes you think there are settlements over there?”

‘Well I don’t know, maybe because it’s easier to build shelter on a rocky surface than _sand_.’ R0-B3 beeped lowly and if Q-310 could have looked offended he certainly would have.

“Don’t get technical with me!” He whined.

‘Listen, I’ve got a mission to complete, either come with me or brave the desert by yourself. I’d prefer safety in numbers, but if that’s how you’re going to be-’ He interrupted her.

“Secret mission? What are you talking about?” When she didn’t respond he huffed. “I’ve had just about enough of you. Go that way! You’ll be malfunctioning within a day, you nearsighted scrap pile!” He kicked her metal body and turned away, walking in the opposite direction of the rocks, into an endless looking dune sea. At about ten feet away he turned around. “And don't let me catch you following me begging for help, because you won't get it.”

‘Where’s your sense of adventure you pusillanimous, copper-coated, oil smear?!’

“No more adventures!” Q-310 shouted back “I’m not going that way!” He turned away, grumbling, and R0-B3 beeped out little complaints as they got further and further apart. 

Q-310 felt like he would melt under the intense heat of the twin suns. Time quickly lost meaning as he moved across the infernal desert, sand-filled every joint, and everything looked the same in every direction. He climbed over another dune, coming close to the massive skeleton of a creature that, in life, clearly had sharp teeth, which caused him to groan in fear, looking back at the distant rocky mesa. “That malfunctioning little twerp. This is all her fault!” He knocked the sand from his joints, “She tricked me into going this way, but she'll do no better.”

Shaking his head, 310 wondered if it would be worth turning around and trying to find R0 in the mesa. Maybe he’d apologize too. Then, the droid spotted something reflecting the sunlight, moving in his direction. “Is...is that? A transport! I’m saved!” Frantically, he started waving his arms, attempting to get the object’s attention. “Over here! Help! Please, help!”

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Biggs had an arm hooked around Alicia’s shoulder, and she had an arm hooked around his side, in their free hands were glasses of something close to alcohol, weak stuff to a human being, like root beer with only a shot of something stronger. Biggs was laughing as the pair walked over to a small table, Alicia telling a very animated story about a dangerous run through Beggar’s Canyon.

“...so I cut off my power, shut down the afterburners and came in low on Deak's trail. I was so close I thought I was going to fry my instruments.” She laughed as they sat down, and Biggs pushed his hair out of his face. “As it was I busted up the Skyhopper pretty bad. Uncle Owen was pretty upset. He grounded me for the rest of the season.” Her laughter calmed and she sighed, “You should have been there... it was fantastic.”

Biggs shook his head, “You ought to take it easy Alicia. You may be the hottest bushpilot this side of Mos Eisley, but those little Skyhoppers are dangerous. Keep it up, and one day, whammo!” He slapped his hands together for emphasis, “you're going to be nothing more than a dark spot on the down side of a canyon wall.” Alicia scoffed at him.

“Look who's talking.” She said, “Biggs, you’re the one who got me into piloting skyhoppers. Now that you've been around those giant starships you're beginning to sound like my uncle. You've gotten soft in the city…” She raised an eyebrow at him, and he chuckled.

“I’ve missed you kid.”

“Well, things definitely haven't been the same since you left, Biggs. It's been so…” Alicia made a sound of disgust, “quiet.” He nodded, and the pair fell into silence, taking in the quiet that had taken Biggs’ place. He looked lost in thought, and Alicia would have commented on it if he hadn’t leaned forward and glanced over his shoulders.

“Alicia, I didn't come back just to say good-bye…” Again he checked to make sure no one was listening, “I shouldn't tell you this, but you're the only one I can trust... and if I don't come back, I want somebody to know.”

Her eyes widened a little bit, what could be so bad that it made Biggs so serious like this? And why of all people did he pick _her_ to know this big secret? “What are you talking about?”

“I made some friends at the Academy, and well” Biggs leaned in a bit more “...when our frigate goes to one of the central systems, we're going to jump ship and join the Alliance…” Alicia pulled away, stunned and in awe.

“Join the Rebellion?! Are you kidding! How?” Biggs shushed her, putting a hand over her mouth and frantically checking to make sure that she hadn’t been heard. Alicia pushed his hand away.

“Quiet down will ya! You got a mouth bigger than a meteor crater!”

“Sorry. Sorry, I’m quiet” She dropped her voice to a loud whisper, “See how quiet I am? You can barely hear me.” Biggs shook his head.

“My friend has a friend on Bestine who might help us make contact.”

You're crazy!” Alicia crossed her arms, “You could wander around forever trying to find them.”

“I know it's a long shot, but if I don't find them I'll do what I can on my own…” He drank more from his glass and Alicia did the same, “It's what we always talked about. Alicia, I'm not going to wait for the Empire to draft me into service.” Biggs shook his head, “The Rebellion is spreading and I want to be on the right side -- the side I believe in.”

Alicia sighed, looking down dejectedly at the table. “And I’m stuck here...”

“I thought you were going to the Academy next term.” He lightly punched her shoulder, “You'll get your chance to get off this rock.”

“Not likely.” Alicia shot back, “I had to cancel my application. There’s been a lot of unrest among the Sandpeople since you left... they've even raided the outskirts of Anchorhead.” Biggs laughed, “What?”

“Your uncle could hold off a whole colony of Sandpeople with one blaster.” He continued to laugh, and Alicia joined him.

“I know,” She said after a few moments, “but he's got enough vaporators going to make the place pay off. He needs me for just one more season. I can't leave him now.” That was her uncle talking and Biggs knew it.

“I feel for you, Alicia, but you're going to have to learn what seems to be important or what really is important.” She cocked an eyebrow at him, so he elaborated, “What good is all your uncle's work if it's taken over by the Empire?” She hummed and looked back down at the table, “You know they're starting to nationalize commerce in the central systems... it won't be long before your uncle is merely a tenant, slaving for the greater glory of the Empire.”

“But it couldn't happen here.” She seemed to be trying to convince herself more than him, “You said it yourself. The Empire won't bother with this rock.”

“Things always change,” Biggs told her, taking another drink before standing. Alicia followed suit and took his cup when he held it out for her.

“I wish I was going... Are you going to be around long?”

He shook his head, “No, I'm leaving in the morning…sorry hotshot.”

“Then I guess I won’t see you…” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and ruffled her hair, making her laugh.

“I’ll keep an eye out for you,” he promised as she pulled her head free and sat the glasses down to fix her hair. “Don’t worry, this ain’t the last you’ll see of me, kid.”

“I’ll be at the academy next season.” Alicia said, hopefully, “After that who knows? You can bet your butt I won't be drafted into the Imperial Starfleet that's for sure…” Biggs chuckled, and she put a hand on his shoulder, “Take care of yourself, you'll always be the best friend I've got.”

“And you’ll always be the baby sister I never had.” Biggs gently poked her nose and pulled her in for a hug. “You be careful, you hear me? If I ever come back and you’re still here, I’d better find you in one piece.”

“Yes sir, First Mate Darklighter.”

They pulled apart and he ruffled her hair one last time. “So long, Alicia,” Biggs said before walking away, heading for the nearby power station. Alicia stood there for several minutes, watching him disappear, she didn’t have the heart to fix her hair again until he was long out of sight.

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The gargantuan rock formations were shrouded in a strange foreboding mist and the ominous sounds of unearthly creatures filled the air. It was cool and dark here, the light of the twin suns obstructed by the high walls of rock surrounding the green and silver astro-droid. R0 cautiously wheeled through the creepy rock canyon, inadvertently making a loud clicking noise as she went. She made meaningless beeps and whistles to herself as if trying to sing, to ease the anxiety she felt when suddenly there was a distant, hard, metallic sound and she stopped.

Everything around her was silent as she scanned the area with her computer face. ‘Nothing here.’ R0 beeped. ‘Nothing here at all. You’re alone.’ She waited another moment before continuing on her way, making a note to kick Q-310’s butt for not coming with her. If she ever saw him again...no, there was no reason to be thinking that way, they’d see each other again.

It was almost ten whole minutes later that something else seemed wrong. In the distance, a pebble tumbled down the steep canyon wall and a small dark figure darted into the shadows. A little further up the canyon, a slight flicker of light revealed a pair of eyes in the dark recesses only a few feet from the narrow path. R0 looked at the rock suspiciously. ‘Alright R0, maybe you’re _not_ alone…’ Once again she looked around. ‘Probably just cave creatures, you’ve handled worse than that.’

She let off a loud warning beep to whatever creatures were watching her. ‘You want a piece of me? Well, good luck! I’ve fought in _wars_. You’ll be a mug of oil to handle!’ Satisfied, R0 began working her way through the canyon again but had barely made it two feet before the beam of a powerful magnetic ray shot out of the rocks and engulfed her in an eerie glow. She managed one short electronic squeak of ‘Son of a bitch!’ before she toppled over onto her face. Her bright computer lights flickered off, then on, then off again and she didn’t move again.

Silence filled the canyon once again, then out of the rocks scurried six Jawas, little creatures no taller than R0, dressed in dark brown robes. Their faces were obscured, only their glowing yellow eyes visible in the darkness under their hoods. The one closest to the fallen droid holstered a strange and complex weapon as the rest of the group cautiously approached the robot, hissing and chattering excitedly in their native tongue as they loaded her up onto their shoulders.

The Jawas carried R0-B3 out of the canyon and down a stretch of desert towards their sandcrawler, where they were greeted by several more Jawas who were loading up bits of broken scrap metal, and droids into the vehicle. With the help of the others, the Jawas quickly placed a restraining bolt on the droid and loaded her up into the sandcrawler as the twin suns began sinking below the horizon.

The interior of the sandcrawler was dark and dry, full of half functional droids and scrap metal. Some of the droids were up and moving, others simply lied on the floor, unmoving. It was here, hours or days since being picked up, that R0 woke up. Her computers flickered to life as her systems came online.

‘Fuck...where am I?’ Slowly R0 made her way through the large space, ‘Hello? Do any of you know where we are?’

‘Quiet down. You’ll make the little ones mad, and then they’ll zap your circuits so bad you malfunction for days.’ R0 decided that for now keeping quiet would be the better option, and she moved past the droid that warned her. Suddenly a familiar voice called out to her.

“R0? R0-B3, it’s you! It’s you!” Q-310 stood and leaned against a wall to stay that way.

‘And here I thought I was finally rid of you.’ She bleeped, coming to a stop in front of him as he put a hand on her domed head.

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A small battalion of Stormtroopers combed the desert around the half-buried escape pod. The twin suns hung high in the sky, making it around noon. “Someone _was_ in the pod.” The leader said to another trooper, “The tracks go off in this direction.”

“Look, sir!” Called another, standing and holding up a glinting ring of metal. “Droids!”

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The sandcrawler rolled over a dune and onto level ground, stopping in front of a small homestead which consisted of three large holes in the ground surrounded by several tall moisture vaporators and one small domed home, and inside the vehicle, Q-310 tapped on R0-B3’s head. “Wake up! Wake up!” He cried as the other droids around them chattered nervously. The Jawas scurried around picking out any droid that could move, and a few came up to 310 and R0. “We’re doomed...Do you think they’ll melt us down?”

‘Maybe if you keep talking they might.’ R0 chirped, and the Jawas pulled out their guns.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” 310 cried, “Oh, will this never end?”

The Jawas muttered in their native tongue as they busily lined up their battered captives, including R0 and 310, in front of the enormous Sandcrawler, and out of the shadows of the dingy little building limps a large burly man in his mid-fifties. His reddish eyes are sunken in a dust-covered face. 

The Jawas scurried around fussing over the robots, straightening them up or brushing some dust from a dented metallic elbow. The shrouded little creatures smelled horrible, attracting small insects to the dark areas when their mouths and nostrils should be. As the farmer carefully inspected each robot, he was closely followed by a slump-shouldered, blonde-haired, young woman. One of the vile little Jawas walked ahead of the farmer spouting an animated sales pitch in its tongue and the farmer scowled, as if the expression was permanently a part of his face.

A voice called out from one of the huge holes that form the homestead. “Alicia? Alicia!” A woman’s voice called, and the blonde jogged over to the hole, peering down into it, where a woman in her fifties stood. Alicia waved at her. “Alicia, tell Owen that if he gets a translator to be sure it speaks Bocce.”

“It doesn’t look like we have much a choice, but I’ll remind him,” Alicia told her before running over to Owen, who was speaking to Q-310. She quickly told him what she had been asked, and he nodded, sending her off to look at a red R1 unit.

“I have no need for a protocol droid,” Owen said.

310 began speaking rapidly, “Of course sir not in an environment such as this, that's why I've also been programmed for over thirty secondary functions that-” Owen interrupted him.

“What I really need,” He said, “is a droid that understands the binary language of moisture vaporators.”

“Vaporators! Sir, my first job was programming binary load lifters, very similar to your vaporators. You could say-”

Once again Owen interrupted him, “Do you speak Bocce?”

“Of course I can, sir. It's like a second language for me. I am fluent in over-”

“Alright, shut up.” Owen huffed, and 310 replied with a ‘shutting up sir’ as the farmer turned to a Jawa. “I’ll take this one.” The Jawa squawked happily and led Owen away from the droids. “Alicia, take these two over to the garage, will you? I want you to have both of them cleaned up before dinner.”

Alicia looked up at him from the R1 unit. “But I was going into Toshi Station to pick up some power converters!” She stood properly, bracing herself against the droid’s head. Owen waved her off.

“You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done. Now come on, get to it!” She groaned but motioned for 310 to follow her.

“All right, come on! And the red one, come on.” Alicia led 310 away from the sandcrawler, but the R1 unit lagged behind. “Well, come on, Red, let's go.” As the Jawas started to lead the three remaining robots back into the sandcrawler, and the R1 unit began shakily following Alicia, R0 let out a pathetic little beep and started trying to waddle after 310.

‘Hey! He gets to go but not me? I hate this planet!’ As she tried to go with them, a Jawa with a remote stepped in front of her, pressing a button and sending an electric pulse through her, making her immobile. Alicia, 310, and the R1 unit continued towards the buildings but had only gone ten feet when the unit began rapidly beeping an error message, and a plate flew off its head, smoke pouring from the opening.

Alicia whipped around and examined the droid. “Uncle Owen!” She called, and he turned around. “This R1 unit has a bad motivator. Look!” Owen rounded on the Jawa he was speaking to and said something, making the tiny creature squawk defensively. Meanwhile, R0 had slipped back out of the line of droids and was beeping shrilly to attract 310’s attention.

‘Come on Q! Don’t leave me here!’

“Excuse me, miss,” 310 spoke, tapping Alicia’s shoulder and pointing his counterpart out to her. “but that _R0_ unit is in prime condition. A real bargain.” She looked at R0 and nodded.

“Uncle Owen? What about that one?” Owen began negotiating a price for R0 with the Jawa, and soon she was rolling over to them as other Jawas took the R1 away.

“I'm quite sure you'll be very pleased with that one, miss.” 310 spoke, “She really is in first-class condition. I've worked with her before. Here she comes.”

‘And here I thought you didn’t like me Q.” R0 whistled as Owen paid the Jawas for the droids. Alicia motioned for them to follow her and 310 knocked the tripod on the head.

“Now, don't you forget this!” He said as they entered the domed building. “Why I should stick my neck out for you is quite beyond my capacity!”


	3. Chapter 3

The garage was cluttered and worn, Alicia’s landspeeder sat in another room, tools and parts sat on tables and benches, but a friendly peaceful atmosphere permeated the low grey chamber. 310 lowered himself into a large tub filled with warm oil. Near the battered Landspeeder, little R0 rested on a large battery with a cord plugged into her face. Alicia was playing with a small model of a skyhopper.

“Thank the maker!” 310 cried, “This oil bath is going to feel so good. I've got such a bad case of dust contamination, I can barely move!” R0 beeps a muffled reply, and Alicia set the model down. Walking over to the other side of the room, she seemed to be lost in thought as she ran her hand over the damaged fin of the life-sized version of the model, a small two-man Skyhopper spaceship that rested in a low hangar off the garage, a wrench in her hand. Finally, Alicia’s frustrations got the better of her and she slammed the wrench across the workbench.

“It just isn't fair. Oh, Biggs is right. I'm never gonna get out of here!” She pushed the loose hair out of her face and moved to pick up the wrench.

“Is there anything I might do to help?” 310 asked, and Alicia glanced at him, her anger drained a bit as she looked at him, and a tiny smile pulled at her lips.

“Not unless you can alter time, speed up the harvest, or teleport me off this rock.” 

“I don't think so, miss.” 310 replied, I'm only a droid and not very knowledgeable about such things. Not on this planet, anyways. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure which planet I'm on.” Alicia laughed.

“Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from.” Alicia looked through the tools on one of the benches.

“I see, miss”

“Oh, you can call me Alicia.”

“I see, miss Alicia.”

She laughed again, “Just, Alicia is fine.”

“And I am Q-310, human-cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart, R0-B3.” R0 chirped out a ‘Nice to meet you, kid.’

“Hello.” Alicia greeted the domed droid as she unplugged the cord from her face, and began scraping debris from the indented parts of her body and face with a chrome pick. “You got a lot of carbon scoring here. It looks like you two have seen a lot of action.” 310 climbed out of the oil bath and began drying himself off.

“With all we've been through,” he said, “sometimes I'm amazed we're in as good condition as we are, what with the Rebellion and all-”

Alicia stood quickly and turned to him, “You know of the Rebellion against the Empire?”

“That's how we came to be in your service, if you take my meaning, miss.” Alicia bounced a bit in excitement.

“Have you been in many battles?”

“Several, I think.” R0 beeped out a ‘More than several’ but Alicia took it as a request to keep cleaning her, and knelt down to continue, “Actually, there's not much to tell. I'm not much more than an interpreter, and not very good at telling stories. Well, not at making them interesting, anyway.”

Alicia bit her lip and grabbed another pick, “Well, my little friend, you've got something jammed in here real good.” She tried a different angle with the pick as she asked, “Were you on a cruiser or-”

Suddenly she fell backward, whatever was stuck coming free and activating a holographic recording. Alicia gasped as she looked at the twelve-inch three-dimensional image of a young man wearing floor-length white robes, the hood of them covering his head. The hologram flickered and glitched, stuck on a repeat.

“Help me, Lura-Rei Kenobi. You're my only hope.” The young man said before looking frantically at something to his right and holding his hand out. The image flickered and restarted, “Help me, Lura-Rei Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” Again he looked frantically to the right then held his hand out before the recording reset.

“What’s this?” Alicia asked R0 as she sat up and watched the hologram continuously ` repeat its message ‘You’re my only hope’. R0 beeped sheepishly, looking around like she didn’t know what the human was talking about.

“What is what?!? She asked you a question.” 310 knocked R0 on the head and pointed at the image projecting from her face. “What is that?” R0 made a whistling sound, like she only just noticed the hologram, and beeped out another sheepish response. The young man’s image continued to speak.

“Help me, Lura-Rei Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

“She says it's nothing, miss. Merely a malfunction. Old data. To pay it no mind.” Q-310 looked at the image, he knew this boy, but all the sand that had gotten into his servos had obviously done some damage to his memory system.

Alicia leaned towards the image. “Who is he? He's very handsome.”

“I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, miss.” Q-310 said as the recording continued to loop, “I believe a part of my memory bank has been damaged...I think he was a passenger on our last voyage. A person of some importance, miss -- I believe. Our captain was attached to-”

“Is there more to this recording?” Alicia interrupted, turning to R0 and reaching out to meddle with her computers, but the droid started whistling out ‘Don’t touch me! Don’t mess with anything!’

“Behave yourself, R0.” 310 scolded, “You're going to get us in trouble. It's all right, you can trust her. She’s our new master.” She began beeping out something to him, parts of which he had no want to repeat aloud as Alicia resumed watching the hologram. “She says she's the property of a Lura-Rei Kenobi, a resident of these parts. And it's a private message for her.” Q-310 shook his head, “Quite frankly, miss I don't know what she's talking about. Our last master was Captain Antilles, but with what we've been through, this little R0 unit has become a bit eccentric.” He put a hand on R0’s head.

Alicia thought for a moment, “Lura-Rei Kenobi?” She spoke to no one in particular, “I wonder if she means old Anna Kenobi?”

“I beg your pardon, miss, but do you know what she's talking about?”

“Well,” Alicia said, standing up, “I don't know anyone named Lura-Rei, but old Anna lives out beyond the dune sea. She’s kind of a strange old hermit.” Alicia gazed at the young man again, biting her lip as she thought. “I wonder who he is. It sounds like he's in trouble. I'd better play back the whole thing.” Alicia glanced at R0 who chirped.

“She says the restraining bolt has short-circuited her recording system.” 310 translated, “She suggests that if you remove the bolt, she might be able to play back the entire recording.” Alicia had returned to gazing longingly at the recording, almost not catching what 310 had told her.

“Hm? Oh, yeah,” she grabbed a wrench and a small wedge, “well, I guess you're too small to run away on me if I take this off. Okay..there you go.” Biting her lip again, Alicia used the tools in her hand to pop the restraining bolt off R0’s side, and then she turned back to the hologram, which flickered and shut off. “Hey, wait a minute. Where'd he go? Bring him back!” She turned back to the droid, “Play back the entire message.”

‘What message?’ R0 chirped innocently and 310’s tone turned to one of embarrassment and frustration.

“What message? The one you're carrying inside your rusty innards!” He knocked her hard on the head, Alicia stood up, shaking her head at the stubborn robot. From somewhere else inside, a voice called out.

“Alicia? Alicia! Come to dinner!”

“All right, I'll be right there, Aunt Beru!” She called back, tossing the restraining bolt onto the table and handing 310 the wrench and wedge. “Here, see what you can do with her. I’ll be right back.” She huffed before jogging out of the garage.

“Just you reconsider playing that message for her.”

‘Do you think she likes me?’ R0 changed the subject.

“No, I don't think she likes you at all.”

‘Well, you like me at least.’

“No, I don’t like you either.

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Alicia came out of the garage and moved through the home until she came to the kitchen, where her uncle sat and her aunt filled a pitcher with a blue liquid which she brought to the table as Alicia sat down. The three ate in silence for several moments before Alicia spoke.

“You know, I think that R0 unit we bought might have been stolen.” She told her uncle, who kept his eyes on his food.

“What makes you think that?”

“Well, I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning her. She says she belongs to someone called Lura-Rei Kenobi.” Owen looked up at the name but managed to hide his alarm. “I thought she might have meant old Anna. Do you know what she's talking about?” Owen only looked down at his food, “I wonder if she's related to Anna.”

“That woman's just a crazy old wizard.” Her uncle said, “Tomorrow I want you to take that R0 unit into Anchorhead and have its memory flushed. That'll be the end of it. It belongs to us now.”

“But, what if this Lura-Rei comes looking for her?”

Owen shook his head “She won't, I don't think she exists anymore. She died about the same time as your father.” He immediately regretted his choice of words, because his niece looked up at him excitedly.

“She knew my father?”

“I told you to forget it.” Owen gave her a stern look, and she returned her focus to her dinner. “Your only concern is to prepare the new droids for tomorrow. In the morning I want them on the south ridge working out those condensers.”

“Yes, sir.” She was quiet, debating if she wanted to say what she was thinking. “I think those new droids are going to work out fine. In fact, I, uh... I was also thinking about our agreement about my staying on another season.” Her uncle looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, “And if these new droids do work out, I want to transmit my application to the Academy this year.”

He tried to hide the scowl that came across his face, his wife looked a bit amused, “You mean the next semester before the harvest?”

“Sure, there’s more than enough droids.”

“But the harvest is when I need you the most. Only one season more. This year we'll make enough on the harvest that I'll be able to hire some more hands and you can go to the Academy next year.” She looked unconvinced, only playing with her food. “You must understand I need you here, Alicia.”

“But it's a whole 'nother year.”

“Look, it's only one more season.”

Alicia pushed her half-eaten dinner away and got up from the table. “Yeah, that's what you said last year when Biggs and Tank left.” She started walking away when her aunt asked where she was going, she looked over her shoulder and shrugged. “It looks like I'm going nowhere. I have to finish cleaning those droids.” With that, she turned and walked quickly back to the garage. Owen shook his head and returned to his dinner and Beru sighed.

“Owen,” he hummed in response but kept his eyes down, “she can't stay here forever. Most of her friends have gone. It means so much to her.” 

“I’ll make it up to her next year.” He said, “I promise.” Beru gave him a knowing smile.

“Alicia’s just not a farmer, Owen. She has too much of her father in her.”

“I know. That’s what I’m afraid of.”

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Alicia stood on the lip of the largest hole of the homestead, watching has the twin suns sank below the horizon. She missed Biggs, it had only been two days since he’d come to say goodbye but it felt like years, a part of her wished that she’d stowed away, gone with him, but she also knew she’d get caught eventually. She sighed, facing the reality that she really never was getting off Tatooine, and she dejectedly made her way back inside, heading into the garage.

Coming into the cluttered space Alicia was surprised to find that both the droids were nowhere in sight, it certainly wouldn’t have been the first time a new droid had decided to hide on their first day. Pulling a small box from her belt she pressed a button, sending a low buzz through the room. There was a yelp and a clatter, and she spotted Q-310 coming out of hiding on the other side of the sky hopper.

“What are you doing hiding there?” She asked, and 310 whimpered as he came out from behind the ship, but R0 was still nowhere to be seen.

“It wasn't my fault, miss. Please don't deactivate me.” The droid begged, “I told her not to go, but she's faulty, malfunctioning; kept babbling on about her mission!”

Dread filled Alicia and she groaned. “Oh no.” Motioning for 310 to follow Alicia ran out of the garage. Coming up onto the flat land she pulled her electrobinoculars from her belt and scanning the area. As 310 stumbled out of the building R0 was still nowhere in sight.

“That R2 unit has always been a problem. These astro-droids are getting quite out of hand. Even I can't understand their logic at times.”

“How could I be so stupid?” Alicia spoke to no one. “She’s nowhere in sight. Blast it!” She put her hand to her head as she put her binoculars down.

“Pardon me, miss, but couldn't we go after her?” She shook her head.

“It's too dangerous with all the Sandpeople around. We'll have to wait until morning.”

“Alicia!” Her uncle called from one of the holes, “I’m shutting the power down!”

“All right, I'll be there in a few minutes.” She called back before groaning, “Boy, am I gonna get it. You know that little droid is going to cause me a lot of trouble.”

“Oh, she excels at that, miss.”

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The next morning Owen walked into the open space of the largest hole, calling for his niece. “Alicia? Alicia!” No response came and he huffed, walking to the kitchen where Beru was making breakfast. “Have you seen Alicia this morning?”

“She said she had some things to do before she started today, so she left early.” Beru continued cooking, not looking up at her husband.

“Did she take those two new droids with her?”

“I think so.”

He sighed, “Well, she'd better have those units in the south range repaired be midday or there'll be hell to pay.”

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The rocks and sand were a blur as Alicia’s landspeeder raced across the desert, 310 drove the vehicle while Alicia leaned over the back of it, meddling with wires. “How's that?” She called, and he gave her a sign that whatever problem it was had been fixed. Alicia sat back down properly. “Old Anna Kenobi lives out in this direction somewhere, but I don't see how that R0 unit could have come this far. We must have missed her.” She shook her head, “Uncle Owen isn't going to take this very well.”

“Miss, would it help if you told him it was my fault?” 310 asked.

She shrugged, “Sure, I guess. He needs you. He'd probably only deactivate you for a day or so…” It sounded like she didn’t care either way, but 310 got a bit defensive.

“Deactivate! Well, on the other hand, if you hadn't removed her restraining bolt-”

“Wait there's something on the scanner, dead ahead. Might be our R0 unit- hit the accelerator!”

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From high on a rock mesa, the tiny Landspeeder was seen gliding across the desert floor by two weather-beaten Sandpeople shrouded in grimy desert cloaks. One of the marginally human creatures raised a long ominous laser rifle and pointed it at the speeder, but the second grabbed the gun before it could be fired. They got into a quickly ended argument, the one who had grabbed the gun coming out on top, ushering the first back down to the flat land where their banthas rested.

The creatures were monstrous and bear-like, standing as large as elephants, their eyes huge and red, tremendous looped horns sat on either side of their heads, and long, furry, dinosaur-like tails trailed down from their backsides. The Tusken Raiders, as the Sandpeople were also called, climbed onto the creatures’ backs and set off down the rugged bluff.

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Inside the canyon walls, the landspeeder came to a halt, and Alicia flew from the passenger seat, running in front of R0-B3, who was hobbling along the canyon floor. Slung across her back was a long laser rifle. “Hey, whoa, just where do you think you're going?” She asked, facing the droid who looked at her with what could best be described as an ‘I-didn’t-think-I’d-be-found-so-soon’ look.

‘Damnit, I thought I would have gotten farther than this.’ R0 beeped, as 310 stood behind her, his hands resting on his hips.

“Master Alicia here is your rightful owner now.” He scolded, “We'll have no more of this Lura-Rei Kenobi jibberish.” R0 whistled but he cut her off, “and don't talk to me about your mission, either. You're fortunate she doesn't blast you into a million pieces right here.”

“Come on.” Alicia looked at the position of the suns before starting back towards the landspeeder, R0 not moving, and 310 turning so he could see both of them at the same time. “It's getting late. I only hope we can get back before Uncle Owen really blows up.”

“If you don't mind my saying so, miss, I think you should deactivate the little fugitive until you've gotten her back to your workshop.”

Alicia shook her head, “No, she's not going to try anything.”

Suddenly R0 started beeping and chirping frantically, and Alicia looked over at her. “What's wrong with her now?” Whatever she was saying obviously spooked 310, and he spoke softly.

“Oh my... miss, she says there are several creatures approaching from the southeast.”

Her eyes widened, and she took her rifle off her back as she headed away from the landspeeder. “Sandpeople! Or worse! Come on, let's have a look. Come on.” She motioned for 310 to follow her.

Alicia laid down on a ridge about thirty feet away from the landspeeder, she had her electrobinoculars in her hand, looking over the ridge at the creatures in the distance. “Well, I see two Banthas down there but I don't see any... wait a second, there’s Sandpeople all right. I can see one of them now.” Alicia watched the distant Tusken Raider through her electrobinoculars as it checked the saddles on the banthas.

Suddenly something huge moved in front of her field of vision, obscuring the image through the binoculars. Before Alicia or 310 could react, a large, gruesome Tusken Raider loomed over them, 310 let out a startled cry and backed away, right off the side of the cliff. Alicia heard him clanging down the side of the canyon wall, wincing at the final sickening crunch as he reached the bottom.

The towering creature brought down his curved, double-pointed gaderffii, a dreaded axe blade that had struck terror in the hearts of the local settlers, but Alicia managed to block the blow with her laser rifle, which was smashed to pieces as a result. The terrified farm girl scrambled backward, dodging more blows from the weapon until she was forced to the edge of a deep crevice. The sinister Raider stood over her with his weapon raised and let out a horrible shrieking laugh that echoed through the canyon.

R0-B3 shuffled as far back in the alcove in the rocks as she could, the howls of the Raiders sending fear through her circuits. ‘Kid, I hope you didn’t do something stupid.’ She softly chirped before the vicious sandpeople walked past her hiding place. If she had lungs she would have gasped at the sight of the unconscious Alicia they dragged behind them.

‘That’s not good. Is she...is she dead?’ The Raiders dropped Alicia in a heap a few feet from the landspeeder, which they began ransacking. Parts and supplies were thrown in all directions, but R0 was focused on watching the unmoving teen. Had she gotten her killed? Suddenly the sandpeople stopped moving, and a deadly silence filled the canyon. Then, a loud howling moan broke the silence, deep and shrill at the same time, and the sandpeople fled in terror.

R0 moved even tighter into the shadows as the sound that frightened off the Sandpeople grew even closer, before transforming into the sound of footsteps across the rocks, and a shabby old desert-rat-of-a-woman appeared in the droid’s peripheral. She was covered by a dark brown robe, but wisps of greying and white hair escaped the cover as she leaned over Alicia, putting a hand over her face to check if she was still breathing. The woman squinted as she scrutinized the unconscious farm girl. R0 made a slight sound and the woman turned and looked right at her, revealing an ancient leathery face, cracked and weathered by exotic climates, set off by penetrating hazel eyes.

“Hello there!” She greeted warmly, “Come here, my little friend. Don't be afraid.” R0 paused momentarily before waddling over to were Alicia lay crumpled in a heap. Looking down at her, the droid began to whistle and beep her concern. The woman put her hand on Alicia’s forehead as she began to come around. “Don't worry, she'll be all right.”

Alicia groaned, putting a hand on her forehead as she held herself up on an elbow. “What happened?” She asked, blinking as her surroundings came into focus.

“Rest easy, dear,” the woman said kindly, but in a tone that also conveyed a bit of amusement, “you've had a busy day. You're fortunate you're still in one piece.” Alicia looked up at her and her eyes widened.

“Anna? Anna Kenobi? Boy am I glad to see you.”

Anna helped her sit up properly, “The Jundland Wastes are not to be traveled lightly. Tell me young Alicia, what brings you out this far?” The teen pointed at R0.

“This little droid,” She said, “I think she's searching for his former master, but I've never seen such devotion in a droid before.” Alicia rubbed a sore spot on the back of her head, “She claims to be the property of a Lura-Rei Kenobi. Is she a relative of yours? Do you know who she's talking about?” 

Anna shifted and held a hand at her chin as she thought. “ _ Lura-Rei  _ Kenobi...Lura-Rei? Now that’s a name I haven't heard in a long time…” She nodded to herself, “a long time.”

“ I think my uncle knew her.” Alicia told her, “He said she was dead.”

Anna chuckled, “Oh, she's not dead,... not yet.”

“So you know her!”

“Well, of course, I know her. She’s me!” Alicia looked at her with wide eyes, “I haven't gone by the name Lura-Rei since oh before you were born.”

“Then the droid does belong to you,” Alicia said, looking over at R0, who was watching the older woman intently. Anna looked back at her with a familiar look, and R0 chirped happily.

‘Now I recognize you! It’s good to see you again General.’ Anna nodded her understanding, but Alicia didn’t know what she’d said.

“Don't seem to remember ever owning a droid.” Anna told Alicia, “Very interesting…”

‘Yeah, you won me in the divorce.’

Anna suddenly looked up at the overhanging cliff, “I think we better get indoors. The sandpeople are easily startled but they will soon be back and in greater numbers.” Alicia nodded and slowly got up, cleaning up the items on the ground before moving to climb in. R0 whistled shrilly.

“310!” She cried before running to find the droid, Anna following closely behind her.

Alicia and Anna stood over the very dented and tangled Q-310 lying half-buried in the sand. One of his arms had broken off, and he was a bit scratched up from the fall but other than that he seemed relatively intact, which Alicia was thankful for. She tried to revive the inert robot by shaking him and then flipped some switches on his back to see what would turn him back on, while Anna grabbed his arm from nearby. Alicia made an ‘Ah-ha’ sound when he came back to life.

“Where am I?” The protocol droid asked, looking around the canyon. “I must have taken a bad step…”

“Can you stand?” Alicia asked, digging his legs out of the sand, “We've gotta get out of here before the Sandpeople return.”

He shook his head, “I don't think I can make it. You go on, Master Alicia. There's no sense in you risking yourself on my account. I'm done for.”

‘Quit being a baby Q!’ R0 whistled from nearby.

“No, you're not. What kind of talk is that?” Alicia said as she pulled him out of the sand the rest of the way. Anna helped lift him onto his feet, and looked around suspiciously when they were all standing.

“Quickly dear,” She said, “they’re on the move.”


	4. Chapter 4

The small, spartan hovel was cluttered with desert junk, scrap metal, a few trunks of clothing, random scraps of cloth and what might have been considered valuables, against one wall was a small collection of walking canes. Despite this, the home still managed to radiate an air of time-worn comfort and security. Alicia sat in one corner repairing 310’s arm as Anna sat thinking.

“No, my father didn't fight in the wars.” Alicia told her, “He was a navigator on a spice freighter.”

“That's what your uncle told you.” Anna replied with a sigh, “He didn't hold with your father's ideals. Thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved.” Alicia put her tools down and turned to the older woman.

“You fought in the Clone Wars?”

“Yes,” She smirked and looked back at her, “I was once a Jedi Knight the same as your father.” Alicia slumped.

“I wish I'd known him.”

“He was the best star-pilot in the galaxy and a cunning warrior.” She chuckled, “I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself. And he was a good friend. Which reminds me…” Standing, Anna walked over to one of the trunks around the hovel, opening a box and rummaging around in it. As Alicia finished repairing 310 and started to fit the restraining bolt back on, the droid looked nervously at her, she thought about the bolt for a moment then put it on the table, giving him a ‘Don’t worry,’ look. Anna shuffled up and presented Alicia with a short handle with several electronic gadgets attached to it. “I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it.” Anna smiled, sighing, “He feared you might follow old Lura-Rei on some damned-fool idealistic crusade like your father did.”

“Miss, if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for a while.” 310 told Alicia, who told him it wasn’t a problem before he slumped over. Anna held the device out to her, and she took it.

“What is it?”

“Your father’s lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight.” Anna told her, sitting back down. “Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster.” Alicia pushed a button on the handle and a long beam shot out about four feet, a brilliant white surrounded by a soft blue glow. The light played across the ceiling as she looked at it in awe. “An elegant weapon for a more civilized time. For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire.” Anna continued as Alicia gently moved the lightsaber back and forth. After a moment she looked back down at the older woman, a question burning a hole in her head.

“How did my father die?” Alicia asked, shutting the lightsaber off, the blade disappearing.

“A young Jedi named Darth Vader,” Anna clenched her fists, and Alicia started to regret asking, “who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights.” She spoke darkly, “He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct.” Alicia looked at her sadly, feeling bad for bringing it up. “Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.”

“The Force?”

Anna seemed to snap out of her thoughts, “Well...the Force is what gives a Jedi their power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.” Alicia went to say something, but R0-B3 chirped.

‘Great talk but I came with sensitive information for the General.’

“Now, let's see if we can't figure out what you have, my little friend. And where you come from.” Anna said, moving over to the droid and fiddling with her computer face, as she beeped out a little, ‘You know where I came from General.’

“I saw part of the message she was-” Alicia started but the hermit flicked a switch and the 12-inch hologram of the handsome young man was projected onto the small sandstone table in the center of the hovel.

“I seem to have found it.” They sat and watched the transparent image of the young man smoothing out his white robes and then his voice filled the space.

“General Kenobi,” He spoke, “years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed.” He took a breath, “I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R0 unit.” Anna and Alicia’s eyes flicked to R0-B3 before returning to the young man. “My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour.” Now the fear in his voice was clear when put next to the diplomatic words that came before it, “Help me, Lura-Rei Kenobi, you're my only hope.”

The hologram flickered off and Anna looked lost in thought. Alicia looked in wonder at R0, if she’d known  _ that _ was the rest of the message, she would have immediately gone looking for Anna. Eventually, the silence was broken by the older woman. “You must learn the ways of the Force if you're to come with me to Alderaan.” Alicia looked over at her in disbelief.

“Alderaan?” She laughed and got up, “I'm not going to Alderaan. I've got to go home. It's late, I'm in for it as it is.”

“I need your help, Alicia.” Anna gestured to where the hologram had been, “He needs your help. I'm getting too old for this sort of thing.”

“I can't get involved! I've got work to do!” She cried, “It's not that I like the Empire. I hate it! But there's nothing I can do about it right now. A-and It's such a long way from here.”

“That’s your uncle talking.”

Alicia groaned, “Oh, God, my uncle. How am I ever going to explain this?”

“Learn about the force, Alicia.” The farm girl paced as she debated what to do, as much as she wanted to leave she just couldn’t go along with what was going on here.

“Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead.” She told the hermit, “You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you're going.”

Anna sighed, “You must do what you feel is right, of course.”

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An Imperial cruiser moved steadily through space towards an ominous battle-station that was in the final stages of construction. Onboard the battle station eight Imperial senators and generals sat around a black conference table while Imperial stormtroopers stood guard around the room. 

“Until this battle station is fully operational we are vulnerable.” Spoke a young, slimy-looking commander, “The Rebel Alliance is too well equipped. They're more dangerous than you realize.”

The admiral in charge of overseeing the station rolled his eyes. “Dangerous to your Starfleet, Commander, not to this battle station.”

“The Rebellion will continue to gain support in the Imperial Senate as long as-”

Suddenly all heads turned as the Commander speech was cut short and the Grand Moff Tarkin, governor of the Imperial outland regions, entered the room. He was followed by the imposing Sith Lord, Darth Vader. All of the generals stood and bowed before the thin, evil-looking governor as he took his place at the head of the table. The Dark Lord standing behind him like a guard dog. 

“The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us.” Tarkin spoke, “I've just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.”

“That's impossible! How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?” The Commander exclaimed, he remained standing as a few others took their seats.

“The regional governors now have direct control over territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.” The Commander took his seat and shook his head.

“And what of the Rebellion?” He asked, “If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical readout of this station, it is possible, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness and exploit it.”

Vader broke his silence and looked at the slimy man. “The plans you refer to will soon be back in our hands.” The admiral smirked.

“Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they've obtained.” He leaned forward in his chair. “This station is now the ultimate power in the universe. I suggest we use it.”

“Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed.” Vader warned, “The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.” The admiral looked unimpressed.

“Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebel's hidden fort-” The admiral choked, clutching his throat, and the rest of the table turned and looked at Vader, who had a hand outstretched towards him, his hand clenched as if he had it around the admiral’s throat.

“I find your lack of faith disturbing.” The Sith Lord growled, and Tarkin held up a hand.

“Enough of this! Vader, release him!”

“As you wish,” Vader said cooly, his hold on the admiral falling away. The man hit the table as he gasped for air.

“This bickering is pointless.” Tarkin snapped, “Lord Vader will provide us with the location of the Rebel fortress by the time this station is operational. We will then crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke.”

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Anna, Alicia, and the droids stood amongst the smoldering rubble and bodies of a Jawa Sandcrawler. Alicia held up something to show the others. “It looks like Sandpeople did this, all right. Look, here are Gaffi sticks, Bantha tracks. It's just... I never heard of them hitting anything this big before.” She looked out across the desert, while Anna knelt down to examine the tracks.

“They didn't. But we are meant to think they did.” She shook her head and stood up, “These tracks are side by side. Sandpeople always ride single file to hide their numbers.”

“These are the same Jawas that sold us R0 and 310.” Alicia realized, holding up the bag of currency that her Uncle had given them the day before. Anna motioned for her to come over and look at the side of the Sandcrawler.

“And these blast points, too accurate for Sandpeople. Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise.”

“But...why would Imperial troops want to slaughter Jawas?” Alicia asked, and the glint of 310’s metal body caught her eye. She looked back at Anna with wide eyes “If they traced the robots here, they may have learned who they sold them to…” The realization hit her and she looked in the direction of the moisture farm, “and that would lead them home!” She ran for her landspeeder.

“Wait, Alicia! It’s too dangerous!” Anna called, but the younger woman paid no mind as she climbed into the vehicle and sped off down the desert, leaving the three alone with the burning Sandcrawler. She raced across the desert, mind running wild with worry until finally, the domed building of the homestead came into view. Alicia’s panic only grew when she realized that there was smoke pouring from the home.

She jumped out of the landspeeder and looked at the wreckage of her home, debris was scattered everywhere, and fires roared inside the domed building. “Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru!” She cried out, searching for them in the wreckage, “Uncle Owen!” She turned back to the domed entrance and froze in horror. Laying on the steps were the charred remains of her aunt and uncle, a scream tore through Alicia’s lips as tears fell down her face.

Back at the Sandcrawler, as 310 helped her pile up the Jawa’s bodies, Anna looked up at the desert, feeling Alicia’s fear and sorrow pushing through the force. With a sigh, she resumed moving the little creature’s corpses.

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Prince Sebastian sat in his cell, staring blankly at the wall. It had been hours, maybe days since his capture, he’d found that time lost meaning in this gods forsaken cell. There was a sense of pride that managed to keep him from losing all hope however, the Imperials had interrogated him the entirety of the trip to the very battle station he was imprisoned in now, but he hadn’t given them anything. His father had raised a successful politician, dodging questions and giving nonanswers to his interrogators was nothing, and Sebastian was certain that if it weren't for the officers' superiors, they would have struck him. To some, that would seem like more reason to fear, but Sebastian recognized it as a sign that the Imperial Senate was still at work, at least for now. 

Now he was alone, no stormtroopers, no officers, no friends, not even the woman he saw in his dreams was there to comfort him. He sighed as he thought about her, her face pulled into a kind smile, her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders and back, small white flowers gently twisted into it. Ever since he was a child, he remembered her being there, first as a living breathing being like his parents, and then as what he guessed was a spirit. He knew who she was, though it was a distant memory, as his father called her ‘The Mother of The Rebellion’. Sebastian finally broke the silence of his cage as he spoke her name.

“Ella...Ella Amidala…” Sebastian half expected her image to appear in front of him, but she didn’t. He jumped when moments later the door of his cell opened and Vader stepped in, followed by a black levitating spherical droid. The prince tensed when he saw the large hypodermic needle attached to the droid’s extended arm, he knew what that was, a truth serum of sorts, its effects made its victims extremely  susceptible to suggestion.

Under its effects Vader could convince him of anything that would make him give up the location of the Rebel base, a simple word would make him spill the secrets of the only hope for the galaxy.

“And now, Your Highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden Rebel base.” Vader’s voice was cool and calm, matter-of-fact almost. Sebastian stood and attempted to back away from the droid, but was stopped both by the wall and by Vader who grabbed ahold of his arms to keep him still as the needle was stuck into his arm. He hissed in pain as a feeling of cold entered his arm and when it disappeared he tried to struggle out of Vader’s hold. He felt the Sith Lord’s mechanical grip tighten, surely leaving bruises in its wake, then his mind went hazy.

He felt dizzy like he was stumbling through a fog. Where was he? He remembered being in danger not so long ago...had he been rescued? Why couldn’t he see? Where was his father? He had to find him, he had to-

“Sebastian.” A deep chilling voice cut through the fog and he tensed up, gripping the arms of whoever was keeping him standing for dear life. “Sebastian, nod if you can understand me.” Slowly the prince did as he was told and the voice seemed pleased, “Good, Sebastian, I am a rebel spy, a friend, sent here to rescue you, but I need to know something before we can leave. I need you to tell me the location of the hidden Rebel base.”

The prince shook his head, trying to get the fog to dissipate, “No...no I...I can’t..” he mumbled, “I can’t tell  _ anyone _ …” he felt the grip on his arms pulling him closer to the voice.

“It’s urgent, Sebastian.” The voice said, “Your father is in great danger, I’m the only one who knows how to keep him safe, I must get to our allies at the hidden base. It could save his life.” Sebastian was scared, his father was in danger? He had to help him...but he couldn’t give up the location, what if the voice was lying? What if someone was listening in that wasn’t there to help? He shook his head.

“No...Father...he wouldn’t-” Sebastian felt himself falling backward, the grip on his arms disappearing, and then he was sitting on a cold hard surface. He looked up and saw a dark figure in front of him, the features of their face hidden in the fog.

“You feel an intense pain, Sebastian.” The voice was cold and cruel, anger boiled in its words, “Greater than anything you’ve ever felt, twisting and coiling around your body, it feels like fire and ice all at once.” Sebastian fell to the floor as he screamed in agony, begging the voice to make it stop. “Tell me the location of the Rebel base and it will all be over!” The voice boomed over his screams. “Where is the Rebel base?!”

He continued to writhe on the floor, clinging to anything he could to try and gain a sense of grounding through the pain. “Help me!” He cried to anyone who would listen, but the voice only asked for the location of the base once again. Eventually, he began to think that it might not be a bad idea to tell the voice, just to make it stop, but a part of him knew that the voice was the cause of his pain, and if anyone could cause pain like that, then they couldn't be a good person. Still, it was looking more and more appealing by the agonizing minute.

Sebastian called out for help again, begging for someone to get him through this. Distantly he heard a woman’s voice calling his name. “Sebastian? Sebastian, it’s alright darling, I’m here, you’re alright.” He felt a gentle warmth envelope him, as the woman’s voice continued to speak, “That’s it, you’re ok. I know it’s scary, but you’re a strong boy, aren’t you?” He knew those words, they were the same ones he heard after he woke up from nightmares, they were Ella’s words.

Hours passed and he held tightly to the feeling of Ella’s presence, he screamed until his voice gave out, it was a relief when he finally lost consciousness.

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Alicia’s landspeeder returned to the Sandcrawler where Anna and the droids had lit a fire fueled by the Jawa's corpses. Alicia stumbled out of the vehicle, and Anna moved over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

“There's nothing you could have done, Alicia,” She said, “Had you been there you'd have been killed too, and the droids would be in the hands of the Empire.” Alicia looked up with tear-filled eyes, before hugging Anna and letting out a choked sob. The older woman hugged her as she cried, R0-B3 rolled over and whistled softly, causing Alicia to pull away and look at the astro-droid, patting her head gently.

The farm girl took a breath and dried her eyes. “I want to come with you to Alderaan.” She said, “There’s nothing for me here now...I want to learn the ways of the Force, and become a Jedi like my father.”

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The Landspeeder zoomed across the desert driven by Alicia rather than 310. She stopped on a bluff overlooking the only spaceport around for several miles so the speeder could cool down. It was a haphazard array of low, grey, concrete structures and semi-domes, a harsh gale blew across the stark canyon floor. Alicia adjusted her goggles and walked to the edge of the craggy bluff, joining Anna.

“Mos Eisley Spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.”

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Alicia drove the speeder through the streets of Mos Eisley, stopping at an intersection when a pair of stormtroopers approached them. “How long have you had these droids?” The first asked and Alicia looked over her shoulder at 310 and R0 who were roped onto the back of the speeder.

“About three or four seasons.” She replied, looking back at them.

“They’re up for sale if you want them.” Alicia shot a nervous glance at Anna but managed to play it off.

“Let me see your identification.” The second trooper said, and Alicia began to fumble around for her ID. Anna shifted in her seat to properly look at the troopers, calm and collected, she waved her hand in their direction.

“You don’t need to see her identification.”

The troopers paused, and then the first turned and said, “We don’t need to see her identification.”

“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” Another wave of her hand and the trooper shook his head.

“These aren’t the droids we’re looking for.” He repeated and Alicia looked at Anna in shock. The older woman smirked at her briefly before looking back at the troopers.

“She can go about her business.”

“You can go about your business.”

“Move along.”

The stormtrooper waved them back into traffic, “Move along,” he said, “move along.”

Alicia moved her speeder back into the street and made another turn before parking the vehicle next to a building lined with other landspeeders and various other modes of smaller transport. As she began unhooking 310 and R0 a small hoard of Jawas came over and started touching the landspeeder. The farmgirl shooed them away as 310 stood up properly.

“I can't abide these Jawas. Disgusting creatures.” He said, shuffling away from them.

“Go on, go on, get out of here.” They walked off, grumbling and she followed Anna and the droids. “I still can't understand how we got by those troopers. I thought we were dead.” Anna looked at her and smirked again.

“The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.” The hermit told Alicia, “You will find it a powerful ally.” They approached a building where the faint sound of music could be heard through the walls. “Here we are, the Mos Eisley cantina.”

“Do you really think we're going to find a pilot here that'll take us to Alderaan?”

Anna shrugged nonchalantly, “Well, most of the best freighter pilots can be found here. Only watch your step.” She warned, “This place can be a little rough.”

Alicia took a breath and looked confidently at the building, “I'm ready for anything.” Anna chuckled and they made their way to the door.

“Come along R0,” 310 looked down at his companion before following the humans. She chirped out an ‘I’m coming.’

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The young farm girl and the pair of droids followed Anna into the smoke-filled cantina. The murky, moldy den was filled with a startling array of weird and exotic alien creatures and monsters at the long metallic bar and at scattered tables around the establishment. At first, Alicia found the sight horrifying. One-eyed, thousand-eyed, slimy, furry, scaly, tentacled, and clawed creatures huddled over their drinks. Anna moved around the patrons to an empty spot at the bar, near a group of repulsive but human scum. The huge, rough-looking bartender called out to Alicia.

“Hey! We don't serve their kind here!” He growled, and Alicia turned her head to look at him, still recovering from the shock of seeing so many outlandish creatures, she didn’t quite catch the bartender's drift

“What?” She asked meekly.

“Your droids. They'll have to wait outside. We don't want them here.” She suddenly found herself being glared at by many of the patrons. She gulped and looked at Anna, who was busy talking to one of the Galactic pirates. Turning to 310 she pushed the hair out of her face.

“Listen,” She said softly, “why don't you wait out by the speeder. We don't want any trouble.” 310 let out what Alicia guessed was a relieved sigh.

“I heartily agree with you miss.” Threepio and his stubby partner turned and walked back outside, R0 chirping grumpily about wanting to ‘be there for negotiations’ and most of the creatures at the bar went back to their drinks.

Anna was standing next to an eight-foot-tall savage-looking creature that resembled a huge brown bushbaby monkey with fierce baboon-like fangs. His large green eyes dominated his fur-covered face and softened his otherwise fearsome appearance. Over his matted, furry body he wore two chrome bandoliers, and little else. Alicia remembered her uncle talking about a creature like this, he called it a Wookiee.

Anna spoke to the Wookiee, pointing to Alicia several times during their conversation and the huge creature suddenly let out a horrifying laugh. Alicia, more than a little bit concerned and tried to ignore the conversation, which she couldn’t really hear most of anyway. She gently tugged on the bartender’s shirt, handed him a bit of currency and asked for a drink, which she sipped nervously as she glanced around the cantina.

Suddenly a large, multiple-eyed creature gave Alicia a rough shove, yelling something at her in a language she didn’t understand until she saw the creature swaying drunkenly, at which point she realized it was probably very slurred hutteese. Alicia tried to ignore the creature and turn back to her drink, only to get shoved a second time. She had just turned away a second time when a short, grubby human and an even smaller rodent-like beast joined the belligerent monstrosity.

“He doesn’t like you.” The human told her.

“I’m sorry,” Alicia replied, trying to inch away to not cause them any more trouble, but the man grabbed her shoulder.

“ _ I _ don’t like you either. You just watch yourself, girlie.“ he warned, “We're wanted, men. I have the death sentence in twelve systems.” Thoroughly freaked out she tried to back away again.

“I’ll be careful-”

He tightened his grip on her shoulder, “You’ll be dead!” The rodent let out a loud grunt and everything at the bar moved away. Alicia tried to remain visibly calm but it wasn’t easy as her three adversaries readied their weapons. She was relieved when Anna came in behind her and put a hand on her other shoulder.

“This little one isn't worth the effort. Come let me buy you something-” Anna was interrupted when with another bellow, a powerful blow from the unpleasant creature sent Alicia crashing into a table, breaking a large jug filled with a foul-looking liquid as she landed on the floor in a heap. With a blood-curdling shriek, the monster drew a wicked chrome laser pistol from his belt and leveled it at the hermit.

“No blasters!” The bartender cried, “No blasters!”

With astounding agility, Anna's own lightsaber sparked to life, and in a flash an arm fell to the floor, separated from its body at the shoulder. The rodent was cut in two and the giant drunken creature laid over doubled, cut from chin to groin, the human held his shoulder where his arm used to be, moaning in pain. Anna turned off her lightsaber and replaced it on her utility belt. Alicia was shaking, utterly amazed at the older woman's abilities, as she attempted to stand. The cantina went back to normal, although Anna was given a respectable amount of room at the bar. Alicia, rubbing her bruised head, approached the old woman with new awe. Anna pointed to the Wookiee, who greeted Alicia with what she could only think to call a sort of gargled howl.

“This is Emeran. He's first-mate on a ship that might suit our needs.”

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Outside the cantina, 310 paced back and forth next to the landspeeder, while R0 chattered with another little domed astro-droid. A creature came out of the cantina and approached a pair of stormtroopers in the street.

“I don't like the look of this.”


	5. Chapter 5

Strange creatures played exotic big band music on odd-looking instruments as Alicia, still nervous and giddy after the bar fight, if one could call it that, downed a fresh drink and followed Anna and Emeran to a booth where a young man was sitting. Just from the look of him, Alicia could tell he was a tough, roguish type, maybe thirty years old at the most. Anna, though she would never voice it while trying to make a deal, found him simple, sentimental, and cocksure.

“Andoni Solo. I'm captain of the Millennium Falcon.” The man said as he pulled his chin-length brown hair out of his face into a ponytail of sorts. Alicia found herself surprised at the softer tone in his voice. “Emery here tells me you're looking for passage to the Alderaan system.”

“Yes, indeed. If it's a fast ship.” Anna nodded and the captain looked a bit offended.

“Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?”

Anna raised her eyebrows, “Should I have?”

If the man hadn’t been offended before, he certainly was now. “It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs.” The older woman reacted to Solo's stupid attempt to impress them with obvious misinformation. Andoni scowled, “I've outrun Imperial starships, not the local bulk-cruisers, mind you. I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you, lady.” The scowl turned to a smirk. “What's the cargo?”

“Only passengers.” Anna replied, “Myself, the girl, two droids,” She leaned forward, “and no questions asked.”

“What is it? Some kind of local trouble?” Anna leaned back cooly.

“Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements.

Andoni chuckled and glanced at Emeran, “Well, that's the trick, isn't it?” He asked the Wookiee, “It's going to cost you something extra. Ten thousand in advance.”

“Ten thousand?!” Alicia exclaimed, looking between the captain and Anna, “We could almost buy our own ship for that!” The man smirked again.

“Oh really? And who's going to fly it, kid? You?”

The farmgirl slammed her hand down on the table, “You bet I could. I'm not such a bad pilot myself!” She stood and backed away from her seat, “We don't have to sit here and listen-” Anna grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back to the table, giving her a look.

“We haven't that much with us,” Anna told him as she pulled Alicia back into her seat. “But we could pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan.”

Andoni paused, “Seventeen, huh?” Alicia watched the captain nervously, silently pleading for him to accept, though she wondered where Anna planned on getting that kind of money. “Okay. You guys got yourself a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready.” Alicia sighed in relief and Anna nodded, “Docking bay Ninety-four.”

“Ninety-four.” Anna nodded again as she confirmed the information. 

Solo glanced behind them to the bar, “Looks like somebody's beginning to take an interest in your handiwork.” Anna and Alicia turned around to see four Imperial stormtroopers looking at the dead bodies and asking the bartenders some questions. The bartender pointed to the booth and one of the troopers nodded before directing his men to follow. As the small squadron reached the table, they found only a Corellian man and a Wookiee, looking coolly at them, as if asking what it was they needed. The troopers looked amongst each other before shaking their heads and moving on. Andoni watched them disappear before turning to the Wookiee.

“Seventeen thousand!” He exclaimed with a laugh, grabbing Emery’s shoulder. “Those guys must really be desperate. This could really save my neck.” Again he laughed, patting Emery’s arm and pointing him to the door. “Get back to the ship and get her ready.”

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“You'll have to sell your speeder,” Anna told Alicia, wrapping her robe tighter around herself as they walked to the vehicle where the droids were waiting.

"That's okay. I'm never coming back to this planet again.”

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As Andoni was about to leave a slimy green-faced alien with a short trunk-nose poked a gun in his side, leaning over his shoulder to speak in his ear. The creature spoke in huttese, and its voice was scratchy.

“Going somewhere, Solo?” It asked, and the pilot looked over his shoulder, a nonchalant laugh escaping him as he turned around.

“Yes, Greedo. As a matter of fact, I was just going to see your boss. Tell Jabba that I've got his money.” Greedo shoved the man into a seat at the table, and sat down across from him, still holding Solo at gunpoint.

“It's too late.” Greedo snapped, “You should have paid him when you had the chance. Jabba's put a price on your head so large that every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you.” The alien let out a whistling laugh, “I'm lucky I found you first.”

“Yeah, but this time I got the money,” Andoni told him, shifting in his seat.

“If you give it to me, I might forget I found you.”

He let out an exasperated sigh and reached his hand up to poke at a piece of metal tubing on the wall behind him. “I don't have it  _ with _ me. Tell Jabba-”

“Jabba's through with you.” Greedo interrupted, making the pilot snap his head back to look at the alien. “He has no time for smugglers who drop their shipments at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser.”

“Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?” He asked in an irritated tone, carefully reaching down to the holster on his leg under the table. Greedo laughed again.

“You can tell that to Jabba. He may only take your ship.” The pilot looked angrily at the alien, fear flashing briefly in his eyes at the thought, though he managed not to lunge at the creature and kept his cool demeanor.

“Over my dead body.”

Greedo smiled as best he could with his longer mouth, “That's the idea.” He taunted, “I've been looking forward to killing you for a long time.” Andoni held his visible hand up in unenthused and sarcastic surrender.

“Yes, I'll bet you have.” Suddenly the slimy alien disappeared in a blinding flash of light. Andoni pulled his smoking gun from beneath the table as the other patron looked on in bemused amazement. With a disgusted sigh, the captain got up and started out of the cantina, flipping the bartender some coins as he left. “Sorry about the mess.” He said, not really even glancing at the man.

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In the deep reaches of space, the Death Star floated above a desolate planet, surrounded by the wreckage of Rebel and Imperial ships alike. TIE fighters zoomed around and approached the space station.

In the control room, Vader and Tarkin stood before a large window overlooking the planet below, as engineers and other officers watched over monitors. “His resistance to the mind probe is considerable.” The Sith lord told Tarkin, “It will be some time before we can extract any information from him.” Tarkin scowled, the prince was being difficult, more so than any time he’d seen the boy in meetings with the senate. There had to be a way to get him to tell them what they wanted to know. An Imperial officer interrupted the meeting.

“The final check-out is complete. All systems are operational.” The officer reported, “What course shall we set?” A cruel smile came across Tarkin’s face.

“Perhaps, he would respond to an  _ alternative _ form of persuasion.” He told Vader.

“What do you mean?”

“I think it is time we demonstrate the full power of this station.” Tarkin replied, and then turned to a nearby soldier, “Set your course for Prince Sebastian’s home planet of Alderaan.” The soldier saluted and answered with a ‘yes sir!’ before turning to the monitor in front of him and beginning to enter the coordinates.

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Four heavily-armed stormtroopers moved menacingly along a narrow slum alleyway of Mos Eisley spaceport, crowded with darkly clad creatures that hawked exotic goods in their dingy little stalls. Men, monsters, and robots crouched in the waste-filled doorways, whispering and hiding from the hot winds as the troopers moved from door to door, searching homes.

“Lock the door, R0,” Q-310 said backing up into the small home where the humans had left them while they got money to pay their pilot. The astro-droid chirped and worked the door controls and the sliding panel closed, blocking the outside world out just as the stormtroopers were approaching their building.

There was a heavy knock at the door and a request for any resident to answer if they were inside. The droids remained as quiet as possible as one told the others, “All right, check that side of the street. This one’s locked. Move on to the next door.” After the sound of the trooper’s steps disappeared the door slid open a crack and 310 looked out.

“I would much rather have gone with Master Alicia than stay here with you.” He grumbled, looking back at the astro-droid, “I don't know what all the trouble is about, but I'm sure it must be your fault.”

‘Hey! I’m doing what the Prince told me to do, don’t f**** get snappy with me you tin can!’

“You watch your language!”

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Anna and Alicia stood in a sleazy used speeder lot, talking with a tall, grotesque, insect-like used speeder dealer. Strange exotic bodies and spindly-legged beasts passed by as the insect concluded the sale by giving Alicia some coins. She counted them and put them away in the pouch on her belt before grabbing her poncho off the hood of the speeder. “He says it's the best he can do. Since the XP-38 came out, they're just not in demand.”

“It’ll be enough,” Anna assured her as she pulled the poncho on and they walked away down the dusty alleyway past a small robot herding a bunch of anteater-like creatures. Alicia turned and gave one last forlorn look at her faithful speeder as they rounded a corner. A darkly clad creature moved out of the shadows as they passed and watched them as they disappeared down another alley. “If the ship's as fast as he's boasting, we ought to do well,” Anna told her as they went back to get the droids.

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A fat, slug-like creature with enormous bulging eyes shouted in Huttese in the direction of the Millennium Falcon and a half-dozen grisly alien pirates and purple creatures stood in the middle of the docking bay with it, weapons drawn. The slug was the grossest of the slavering hulks, his scarred face was a grim testimonial to his prowess as a vicious killer. 

“Solo!” It called, “I know you’re in there, Solo!”

“Right here Jabba.” Came a voice from behind and the group turned to find the Corellian human and his Wookiee first mate standing at the entrance without a weapon in sight. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Have you now?” The Hut lord asked with a laugh, and Solo began walking toward him.

“You didn’t think I was gonna run, did you?”

“Andi, my boy, you disappoint me,” Jabba replied, as the group of armed mercenaries surrounded the human and Hut. “Why haven't you paid me...and why did you fry poor Greedo? After all, we've been through together.”

Solo pointed an accusing finger at the slug, who now stood close enough to put an arm around him, “You sent Greedo to blast me.”

“Why, Andi, you're the best smuggler in the business. You're too valuable to fry.” Jabba told him, clearly mocking surprise. “He was only relaying my concern at your delays. He wasn't going to blast you.”

“I think he thought he was.” Solo again jabbed a finger at the Hut lord, “Look Jabba, the next time you want to talk, come see me yourself.” He gestured to the hired guns. “Don’t send one of these twerps.”

Jabba shook his head and shrugged, “Andi, Andi, I can’t make exceptions.” They began a slow walk around the ship, still surrounded on all sides. ‘What if everyone who smuggled for me dropped their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial Starship? It’s not good business.”

“Look Jabba, even I get boarded sometimes. You think I had a choice?” They halted and Solo walked around the Hut, stepping on his tail, rather than over it, Jabba growled in pain and glared at the pilot, who turned on the charm, “But I’ve got a nice easy charter now. I’ll pay you back- plus a little extra- I just need a little more time.”

Jabba thought for a moment and then sighed contently, “Andi, my boy, you’re the best.” He chuckled and worked over the math in his head, “So, for an extra 20%-”

“Fifteen, Jabba, don’t push it.”

He shrugged, “Alright, 15%.” Andi smirked, turned, and began walking to his ship, the hired guns parting to let him pass. Behind him, Jabba called: “But if you fail me again I’ll put a price on your head so big you won’t be able to go near a civilized system!”

Solo turned and offered Jabba an open-armed bow, “Jabba,” He smirked, “you’re a wonderful human being.” He boarded his ship, disappearing from view. Silence filled the docking bay for a beat before Jabba waved for his hired guns to follow him.

“Come on!” The slug barked, and slowly they followed, only a Mandalorian, donned in very scarred beskar armour, lingered longer after the others were gone.

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Anna and Alicia, with the droids now in tow, approached the entrance to Docking Bay 94, where Emeran waited restlessly. Upon spotting them, the Wookiee jabbered excitedly, signaling for them to hurry. Meanwhile, a distance down the street, the darkly clad creature from the speeder lot huddled itself against a wall, pulling out a small transmitter and speaking into it in an alien dialect.

Emeran led the group into the giant dirt pit that was Docking Bay 94. Resting in the middle of the huge hole was a large, round, beat-up, pieced-together hunk of junk that could only loosely be called a starship. Alicia looked the ship over, and exclaimed, “What a piece of junk!”

At her words, the figure of Andoni Solo came down the boarding ramp, a dirty rag in hand and a smug look on his face. “She'll make point five past light speed.” He threw the rag onto his shoulder, “She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've added some special modifications myself.” Alicia still looked unsure, while Emeran quickly climbed the ramp and ushered the passengers to board the ship as well. “We're a little rushed, so if you'll hurry aboard we'll get out of here.” Anna led them up the ramp past a smirking Solo, who Q-310 offered a greeting as he boarded. Meanwhile, Emeran sat himself in the co-pilot’s chair and started up the ship's engine.

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Eight Imperial stormtroopers rushed up to the darkly clad creature as it watched the entrance for the docking bay. They were heavily armed and clearly meant business. Vendors and patrons moved out of their way so as to not get trampled.

“Which way?” The leader asked the creature, who pointed out docking bay 94. “All right, men. Load your weapons!” The troopers held their guns at the ready and charged down the entrance, spotting the Millennium Falcon preparing to take off. “Stop that ship!”

Solo looked up to see the Imperial stormtroopers rushing into the docking bay. Several of the troopers fired at him and he ducked into the spaceship.

“Blast 'em!” Shouted the leader.

Solo drew his laser pistol and popped off a couple of shots, forcing the stormtroopers to dive for safety. The ship’s engines whined as he hit the release button that slams the overhead entry shut, before running for the cockpit. “Emery, get us out of here!”

Alicia and Anna secured the droids in the main hold as blaster fire knocked dents in the ship’s hull. “Oh, my.” Q-310 moaned as Anna helped him buckle his waist secure, “I'd forgotten how much I hate space travel.” R0 managed to slip away from Alicia, who lost her footing as the ship took off.

The half-dozen stormtroopers at a checkpoint heard the general alarm and looked to the sky as the huge starship rose above the dingy slum dwellings and quickly disappeared into the morning sky. Andi climbed into the pilot's chair next to Emeran, who chatted away as he pointed to something on the radar scope.

The Corellian pirate ship zoomed from Tatooine into space, while Andi frantically typed information into the ship's computer. Little R0 appeared momentarily at the cockpit doorway, made a few beeping remarks, most likely curses about terrible flying, then scurried away. The Millennium Falcon raced away from the yellow planet, followed by two huge Imperial Star Destroyers.

“It looks like an Imperial cruiser. Our passengers must be hotter than I thought.” Andi said, flipping switches and turning knobs. “Try and hold them off. Angle the deflector shield while I make the calculations for the jump to lightspeed.”

Out of the cockpit window the galaxy is spread before them, Anna and Alicia made their way into the cramped cockpit where Andi continued his calculations. “Stay sharp!” He warned Emeran, “There are two more coming in; they're going to try to cut us off.”

“Why don't you outrun them? I thought you said this thing was fast.” Alicia accused, and Andi turned to point a finger in her face.

“Watch your mouth, kid, or you're going to find yourself floating home. We'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace.” He turned back to the controls, “Besides, I know a few maneuvers. We'll lose them.”

The Imperial cruisers fired at the ship, which shuddered as an explosion flashed outside the window, jostling it. “Here's where the fun begins!” Andi laughed, and Anna leaned forward.

“How long before you can make the jump to lightspeed?”

Andi checked a small monitor above his head. “It'll take a few moments to get the coordinates from the navi-computer.” The ship began to rock violently as lasers hit it, Andi swore under his breath.

“Are you kidding?” Alicia held onto the seat she was in as the ship was rocked by yet another blast. “At the rate they're gaining?!”

Andi snapped at her, the irritation blatantly clear in his voice, “Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, kid!” He flicked switches and activated buttons as the ship jostled again, “Without precise calculations, we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?” She swore she heard sarcastic amusement in his voice.

The Star Destroyers now were close enough that they constantly battered the ship with laser fire. The pilot of the pirate vessel swore again as he tried to stabilize something from inside the cockpit.

“What's that flashing?” Alicia asked, pointing up at a blinking red light on the overhead computer. Andi slapped her hand away.

“We're losing our deflector shield.” He said, gesturing for the women to head back through the door. “Go strap yourself in, I'm going to make the jump to lightspeed.” Anna nodded and walked towards the hall, pausing momentarily to wait for Alicia, who’s gaze lingered on the Captain, as if trying to work something over in her head, before she turned and followed the hermit.

Andi looked to Emeran and nodded, reaching over to the center console, where four levers rested. He took the two on the left while the Wookiee took the two on the right, and together they pushed the levers to the forward position.

The galaxy brightened and they began to move faster, almost as if crashing a barrier. Stars became streaks as the pirate ship made the jump to hyperspace. The Millennium Falcon zoomed into infinity in less than a second.


	6. Chapter 6

Sebastian woke up alone in his cell, what he guessed was at least a day after he'd passed out. He attempted to sit up and whimpered, his muscles burned, and there was practically no chance he'd be able to stand for hours. His blonde hair had fallen out of the few decorative braids it had been styled in and was plastered to his forehead, dark with sweat. He moaned softly and rolled over onto his side.

His mind was still hazy, but other than that all of his senses seemed to have returned to him and he wracked his brain trying to remember what had happened during the interrogation. He remembered the truth serum, the burning sensation, the sinister voice that demanded the information from him, his own screams for help.

A shot of adrenaline went through Sebastian, and he sat upright, hissing at the pain that came from the movement. The realization dawned on him: somehow, he had resisted the truth serum. He hadn’t given up the location of the Rebel base. 

But how was that even possible? He knew from his few meetings with the Rebellion that even the best of spies wouldn’t be able to resist telling the truth under that serum, no amount of training could fight against the powerful chemicals. Why had he been able to do what even the most highly trained rebel spies had failed to?

Something had helped him, that had to be the answer. That warm presence, Ella's voice comforting him the way she had when he was a child, had given him the strength to avoid telling Vader the truth. Sure, he'd remembered her voice and what she'd said when he woke up from nightmares, but this was different. 

Sebastian wracked his brain, trying to figure out what that warm presence could have been. He remembered stories of this kind of thing, people who could call on this sort of...energy to aid them. They were stories Ella used to tell him of the Jedi, who could call upon the Force to help them do all kinds of things that some would deem impossible.

Darth Vader used a lot of the same powers that the Jedi were said to have, it made sense if it really was the Force that came to his aid. The Jedi had been a symbol of hope and good, order amongst the chaos, kindness for those who had seen too much hatred. He remembered his father saying that the force connected all things. It was the whole meaning behind the phrase “May the Force be with you," that the rebellion had coined as their prayer for luck.

Sebastian hadn’t ever really thought about the Force. After all, there were far more physical aspects of the world that demanded his attention, his studies, the senate, the rebellion. But now, there was a chance that he could use the force the way the Jedi did. What did that mean for him? What if he wouldn't be able to do it again? Was it not actually him that called on the Force, was there someone helping him from far away?

He remembered his father briefly mentioning that Lura-Rei Kenobi was a Jedi. On the off chance that he was rescued, maybe he could talk to her about what had happened. She could help him make sense of all this.

Sebastian curled up around himself, pressing against the wall behind him. There was so much for him to think about, and both too much, and not enough time to do it.

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Two stormtroopers arrived in his cell with Darth Vader, what he guessed was about a day later. He didn’t stand, he still felt too weak. His entire body was exhausted from the hours of spasms from the pain. Still, he held his head as high as he could, an attempt of bravery and defiance to the Sith Lord. He knew that Vader had seen plenty of weakness from him already, but it was worth the energy he had left to be difficult.

“Here for another round?” He asked as cooly as he could, biting back a hiss as he shifted.

“We have a different form of interrogation for you today, your highness,” Vader replied. There was a note of warning in his voice, one that made Sebastian's stomach twist in fear, though he managed to keep his expression neutral.

Before he had the chance to ask what Vader meant by that, the stormtroopers forced his hands into binders and hauled him to his feet. He winced as their hands closed over the bruises from yesterday’s interrogation and dizziness washed over him as he struggled to his feet. Even with the stormtroopers gripping his arms, it was still difficult to stand, he felt himself sway momentarily, as the now blurry figure that was Vader passed them and entered the hallway, waiting for them to join him.

They rapidly pulled him through the halls, Darth Vader always uncomfortably close behind. The mechanical sound of his breathing made the hairs on the back of Sebastian's neck stand on end, but he tried his best to ignore it, focusing on straightening his posture, walking like he had control of the situation rather than having none at all. He was, after all, still the Prince of Alderaan, he had a family reputation to uphold.

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Admiral Motti, the director of operations onboard the Death Star entered the quiet control room, where almost thirty imperial engineers sat at panels covered in computers, and bowed before Governor Tarkin, who stood before the huge wall screen displaying the small green planet that the Prince called home.

"We've entered the Alderaan system," Motti announced, and a smirk pulled at Tarkin's thin lips. From behind him came the sound of footsteps, and he turned smartly to face the Prince and Vader.

Sebastian was suddenly very happy that he had tried to regain his proper posture, Tarkin stared him down, his ice-blue eyes cold as they fixed on the young prince in what he only could guess was disgust. Revolusion twisted Sebastian's stomach. This man cared nothing for innocent casualties, he was fairly certain that if it suited Tarkin's needs he would blast his own parents into oblivion.

"Governor Tarkin," Sebastian said as they came to a stop before the Grand Moff, his eyebrows raised in an amused way. "I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board."

In reality, the man smelled like lilacs, but Sebastian wasn't about to resist the opportunity to insult both of the Empire leaders at once. Snark was something that ran in the Organa family, he'd been told and shown that plenty of times. It was usually a bit more subtle, and perhaps a bit tamer, but his father’s patience wasn't something he'd inherited.

“Charming to the last,” Tarkin said drily, a pathetic attempt at a smile crossing his face. He hooked a finger under Sebastian's chin, forcing the prince to look up at him. “You have no idea how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life.”

Sebastian scoffed and pulled back from Tarkin’s grip, resisting the urge to bite the man for touching him. “I’m surprised you found the courage to take the responsibility yourself.”

“Prince Sebastian," Takin said, practically ignoring the prince's remark, "before your execution I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now.” Tarkin looked darkly pleased, his skeletal face nearly glowing with pride.

“The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers,” Sebastian warned, it was something he once heard his father remark to the senate, and then again to the rebellion. It was one of the last times he'd heard his father speak before his capture, he was happy he remembered it, it really was a clever jab at the Empire.

“Not after we demonstrate the power of this station,” Tarkin said, gesturing to the machinery and technicians within the control center. Then he turned back to Sebastian, a ghost of a smile on his face. “In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that'll be destroyed first." The prince watched him carefully, "Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station’s destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan.”

Sebastian then caught the sight of the large screen behind the Grand Moff and recognized the blue and green of his home immediately. His breath caught in his chest, fear filling his heart. He moved towards Tarkin, panic in his voice.

"No!” He protested, looking up at the Grand Moff. “Alderaan is peaceful, we have no weapons! You can't possibly–”

“You would prefer another target?” Tarkin whirled on him, making him back away. “A military target? Then name the system!” He pressed forward, backing Sebastian right into Darth Vader, the prince glanced back to the Sith, startled by the contact. When he looked back, Tarkin was looming over him. “I grow tired of asking this, so it will be the last time. Where is the Rebel base?”

Sebastian's breathing quickened. He was trapped between the two taller men, with a ticking clock announcing the doom of his people. The decision weighed far too heavily, Alderaan was his home, his people, his responsibility. They were just ordinary people, living on a peaceful planet that had, until now, been untouched by the Empire.

Could he betray the Rebellion for this? Give up a base of the only force able to hold against the empire to same his planet? As he stared through the screen at his home, the thought of his people disappearing in a flashing explosion, as if they'd never existed in the first place, made the decision for him.

"Dantooine." He admitted softly, his gaze falling to the floor as he hung his head, his voice broke as he told them: "They're on Dantooine."

There was a rebel base on Dantooine, but it was abandoned, unused for years, at least by the rebellion. It was still a planet, an occupied one, but he knew for a fact that it was significantly less populated than Alderaan. It was an innocent world, which would haunt him forever, but if their deaths would keep more people alive, he would find some way to live with what he'd done.

“There, you see Lord Vader? He can be reasonable.” Tarkin was disgustingly smug, and it made Sebastian's stomach churn. The Grand Moff turned to Admiral Motti and almost too pleased, said, “Continue with the operation, you may fire when ready.”

Sebastian's head snapped up, his face pale with shock. “What?” He demanded, the calm voice of a politician disappearing into a shriek.

“You’re far too trusting,” Tarkin said smugly, shooting him a look of contempt and triumph. “Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don’t worry." He held a finger up, almost in the prince's face, Sebastian swore he was almost laughing. "We will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough.”

“No!” Sebastian cried, his horror and anger boiling over. He moved towards Tarken, a part of him prepared to do something, anything, to stop Alderaan's destruction. Vader grabbed him by the shoulder and all too easily pulled him back against him, holding him in place.

"Commence primary ignition," Motti ordered, and a button was pressed, switching on a panel of lights. A hooded Imperial soldier reached overhead and pulled a lever, and then another lever was pulled. More buttons and levers and then the mechanics around them truly whirred to life. Sebastian watched in horror as a near-blinding green light shot from the space station towards Alderaan, transforming it into a magnificent explosion.

It was horrifyingly beautiful, Sebastian found it hard to believe that this firework against the stars was his childhood home. He wanted to believe that it was fake, just a trick, a computer-generated image designed to break him, but he knew that it was real. He felt it. He felt Alderaan die, as if he was on the planet itself, feeling his people's pain, their screams echoing in his ears as if he were there, as they were blasted out of existence.

Everything was numb, he watched helplessly as the remains of the explosion glittered on the screen, around him, the technicians cheered at their success, but Sebastian could barely hear them. He barely registered the stormtroopers grabbing his arms and dragging him away. His feet moved on their own accord, his mind still full of the sounds of Alderaan's screams.

They dumped him in his cell, and he just collapsed on the grate floor where they left him, unable to move. Alderaan was gone, nothing but stardust and asteroids. His people, his friends, his parents, all blown away like they never existed. The lakes that he used to swim in, the palace where he grew up, his childhood bedroom, gon forever. There was nothing left of his home. His entire world was gone.

Sebastian barely found the strength to move himself to the metal bench before he curled up on his side, he wanted to disappear, he wanted it to be a lie. He wished that it was just another terrifying nightmare that he could wake up from, begging for Ella, or his parents to help him like he was a child again.

The child in him could never imagine a world where Bail Organa wasn't King of Alderaan. He looked up to his father the way their people did and had he asked, Sebastian would happily have served as his prince and a senator. Bail was a good man and an even better leader. Sebastian knew that one day he would take the throne, but a part of him didn't want that, what it wanted instead, Sebastian didn't know.

In a left-handed way, he was getting that wish. He would never be the king of Alderaan. In fact, he wasn't even its prince anymore. Without his planet, he was no one, just a nineteen-year-old boy without a home or family, and the Empire was going to kill him any day now. Well, one thing was for sure, he wouldn't go down without a fight.

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Emeran, R0, 310, Alicia, and Anna sat in the main hold of the Millenium Falcon, 310 watched the Wookiee and astro-droid who were engrossed in a game similar to chess on a round board. Anna meanwhile was watching Alicia practice using the lightsaber with a small seeker robot. The farm girl tracked the seeker's movements but stopped when Anna suddenly turned away and sat down. She faltered, seeming almost faint.

"Are you all right?" Alicia asked, taking a step towards her, "What's wrong?"

Anna held her head, "I felt a great disturbance in the Force..." She said, "as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." Anna rubbed her forehead, drifting into a sort of trance before fixing her gaze on Alicia. "You'd...you'd better get on with your exercises."

Alicia nodded and reactivated the lightsaber as Captain Solo entered the man hold cheerfully. "Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs." He said, sitting himself smugly down in a chair in the corner of the main hold, "I told you I'd outrun 'em."

Everyone was otherwise engaged in their own activities, leaving the cabin silent, Solo huffed, "Don't everyone thank me at once." He glanced at his first mate before turning his chair and looking at an overhanging monitor "Anyway, we should be at Alderaan at about 0200, two days from now."

Emery and the two robots sat around the lighted table which was covered with small holographic monsters. Each side of the table had a small computer monitor embedded in it, and R0 was using a small, clawed appendage to operate her side. Emery seemed very pleased with himself and the move he'd just made as he rested his lanky fur-covered arms over his head.

"Now be careful, R0," 310 warned, but she immediately reached up and tapped the computer with her stubby claw hand, causing one of the holographic creatures to walk to the new square, pick up the Wookiee's creature, and kill it. A frown crossed Emery's face and he began yelling gibberish at the tiny robot. 310 interceded on behalf of his small companion. "She made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you."

Andi interrupted from his corner, "Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee."

"But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid."

Andi turned and looked at the protocol droid with raised eyebrows, "That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their socket when they lose." He told him, clearly amused. Emery crossed his arms behind his head triumphantly, "Wookiees are known to do that."

"I see your point, sir." 310 nodded, then turned to the astro-droid, "I suggest a new strategy, R0. Let the Wookiee win."

Alicia stood in the middle of the small hold; seemingly frozen in place, the humming lightsaber held defensively in front of her chest. Anna watched from her seat, studying the girl's movements, Andi watched with a bit of smugness.

"Remember," Anna said, "a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through them."

"You mean it controls your actions?" Alicia asked, tracking the seeker bot with her eyes.

Anna nodded, "Partially. But it also obeys your commands."

Suspended at eye level, about ten feet in front of Alicia, the seeker, a chrome baseball-like robot covered with antennae, hovered slowly in a wide arc. The ball floated to one side of the youth then the other before making a sudden lightning-swift lunge only to stop within a few feet of Alicia's face. When she didn't move the ball backed off. It slowly moved behind the girl, then made another quick lunge, this time emitting a blood red laser beam as it attacks. The beam hit Alicia in the leg causing her to jump and yelp. Andi let loose with a burst of laughter and Anna grabbed the seeker out of the air.

Alicia rubbed the sore spot on her leg as his laughter died down, "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid." He told her, shaking his head a bit.

"You don't believe in the Force, do you?" Alicia asked a bit accusingly.

"Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything." Again he shook his head, pointing a thumb at his chest. "There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny."

Anna smiled quietly as Solo told her. "It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense." 

"I suggest you try it again, Alicia." Anna said, standing up, "This time, let go of your conscious self and act on instinct." She placed a large helmet on Alicia's head covering her eyes. Alicia laughed nervously.

"With the blast shield down, I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?" 

"Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them."

Andi skeptically shook his head as Anna threw the seeker back into the air. The ball shot straight up then drops like a rock. Alicia swung the lightsaber around blindly, missing the seeker, which fired off a laser bolt, hitting Alicia square on the seat of her pants. She let out another painful yell and attempted once again to hit the seeker.

"Stretch out with your feelings," Anna told her, and she stood still, taking a breath, closing her eyes under the blast shield. Through the darkness, she made out the faintest outline of the seeker as it dove and fired another bolt in her direction, which she quickly deflected.

Anna smiled and plucked the seeker from the air again as Alicia pulled the helmet off and shut off the lightsaber. "You see, you can do it." The older woman praised, Solo rolled his eyes.

"I call it luck."

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck."

"Look, going good against remotes is one thing. Going good against the living? That's something else." He noticed a small light flashing on the far side of the control panel and sighed, standing up, "Looks like that circuitry we patched earlier is loose again. Come on Emery." He waved to the Wookie to follow him, and they disappeared into the hallway.

Alicia walked over to her mentor excitedly, "You know, I did feel something. I could almost see the remote."

She smiled at her, "That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world."

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The next two days spent on the ship were rather uneventful, Alicia continued training with her lightsaber, R0 continued to beat Emeran at the game of monster chess, despite Andi and 310’s warning, and eventually, the Wookiee simply refused to play against her again, much to Alicia and the astro-droid’s amusement.

Solo allowed them to use the shower in his cabin, and even put their clothes through a small washer for them. Alicia took a bit of the time after her shower to snoop around in his closet, where she found what she guessed was a skirt, made of a silky material. She wondered who it could have belonged to but Solo came to give back her freshly cleaned clothes before she could look through anything more.

On the third day of travel, Solo announced as he made his way to the cockpit, "We've reached the Alderaan system, Emery and I are gonna pull us out of hyperspace."

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An Imperial Officer stood before Tarkin and Vader in the conference room, waiting for permission to speak, it had been two days since the planet's destruction, and still, outside the station, the remains of the planet continued to spread out across the system. Tarkin turned to the officer, "Yes?"

"Our scout ships have reached Dantooine." He told them, "They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search of the surrounding systems." He bowed and left their presence.

"He lied! He lied to us!" Tarkin turned to Vader, enraged.

If he hadn't known better, he would have sworn the Sith Lord was mocking him, "I told you he would never consciously betray the Rebellion."

Tarkin was silent for a moment, cursing himself for not believing Vader. "Terminate him..." He snapped, "immediately!

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"Stand by, Emery, here we go. Cut in the sublight engines." Andi said as he pulled back on a control lever. Outside the cockpit window, the stars that were streaking past seemed to decrease in speed, then stop. Suddenly the starship began to shudder and violently shake about. Asteroids started to race toward them, battering the sides of the ship.

"What the...? Aw, we've come out of hyperspace into a meteor shower. Some kind of asteroid collision," Andi checked his computers, "It's not on any of the charts."

The Wookiee flipped off several controls seeming very cool in the emergency. Alicia made her way into the bouncing cockpit. "What's going on?" She asked, losing her footing and falling into the seat behind Emery.

"Our position is correct, except...no, Alderaan." He was watching one of the monitors to his left, Alicia's attention snapped from the window to the Captain.

"What do you mean? Where is it?"

There was more flipping of switches and turning of knobs, "That's what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It ain't there. It's been totally blown away." 

Anna entered the cockpit and sat behind Andi. "What? How?" Alicia was in disbelief.

Anna looked at the rubble around them, and dread and realization filled her, "Destroyed... by the Empire." Andi shook his head.

"The entire Starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It'd take a thousand ships with more firepower than I've..." A signal began flashing on the control panel and a muffled alarm started humming. "There's another ship coming in."

Alicia perked up, "Maybe they know what happened."

"It's an Imperial fighter," Anna said and Emery barked his concern at her claim. A huge explosion burst outside the cockpit window, shaking the ship violently and a tiny, finned Imperial TIE fighter raced past.

"It followed us!" Alicia cried and Anna shook her head.

"No. It's a short-range fighter."

"There aren't any bases around here." Andi informed them, "Where did it come from?"

Alicia watched the tiny ship as it flew into the distance, "It sure is leaving in a big hurry. If they identify us, we're in big trouble."

"Not if I can help it." Andi replied, flicking a switch, "Emery, jam its transmissions." Anna put a hand on the Captain's shoulder, standing from her seat.

"It'd be as well to let it go. It's too far out of range."

"Not for long."

The pirate ship zoomed into the vastness of space after the Imperial TIE fighter, the tension mounting as the Falcon gained on it. In the distance, one of the stars became brighter until it was obvious that the TIE ship was heading for it. Anna looked skeptically at the tiny ship. "A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own."

"It must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something," Alicia suggested with a note of concern for the pilot inside it.

"Well, he ain't going to be around long enough to tell anyone about us," Andi said, accelerating. The TIE fighter was losing ground to the larger pirate ship. The distant star began to become clearer and Alicia pointed it out.

"Look at him. He's headed for that small moon.

"I think I can get him before he gets there... he's almost in range."

Anna scrutinized the oncoming star as they continued their approach, her eyes widened, "That's no moon," She said darkly, "It's a space station."

"It's too big to be a space station," Andi said as they continued to follow the fighter. He finally took his attention away from it and looked at the space station as Alicia spoke behind him.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Alicia said meekly, and Anna leaned forward, not taking her eyes off the station.

"Turn the ship around." She told the captain, who also stared at the approaching mass.

"Yeah... I think you're right. Full reverse! Emery, lock in the auxiliary power." The Falcon shuddered, continuing to move forward and the TIE fighter accelerated away toward the gargantuan Death Star. The Wookiee yowled as he flipped switches, but nothing changed. "Emery, lock in the auxiliary power!" Emery responded with more growls.

"Why are we still moving towards it?" Alicia cried.

"We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!"

"There's gotta be something you can do!"

He shook his head. "There's nothin' I can do about it, kid. I'm in full power. I'm going to have to shut down." He reached behind himself to flick a switch on the ceiling control panel "They're not going to get me without a fight!" Emery made a noise of agreement as they watched the space station grow even larger.

Anna put a hand back on his shoulder. "You can't win." She said, "But there are alternatives to fighting. 

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The helpless Millennium Falcon was pulled past a docking port control room and huge laser turret cannons. A voice over an intercom announced: "Clear Bay twenty-three-seven. We are opening the magnetic field."

The pirate ship was pulled in through port doors of the Death Star, coming to rest in the huge hangar. Thirty stormtroopers stood at attention in a central assembly area while an officer barked orders. "To your stations!" He commanded, then turned to another officer beside him, "Come with me."

A line of stormtroopers marched toward the pirate ship in readiness to board it, while other troopers stood with weapons ready to fire. A voice came over the intercom for another announcement, "Close all outboard shields! Close all outboard shields!"

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In the conference room, Tarkin and Vader stand alone save for the Stormtroopers standing guard around the circular room. There was a buzzing from the intercom built into the table in front of Tarkin's chair, and he pressed the button to activate it.

"Yes?" He asked in a sharp tone, and an officer's voice buzzed through.

"We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. It's markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley." Tarkin stood in thought, and Vader took a step closer to him.

"They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the prince." He said, and Tarkin looked at him, "He may yet be of some use to us."

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Vader and a commander approached the troops as an Officer and several heavily armed troops exit the spacecraft. Above them, another announcement said "Unlock one-five-seven and nine. Release charges."

Once he was close enough, the officer in front of the ship spoke to Vader. "There's no one on board, sir. According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff." Vader looked up at the Falcon, "It must be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned."

"Did you find any droids?" He asked, looking back down at the officer, who shook his head.

"No, sir. If there were any on board, they must also have jettisoned."

Vader loomed over the man, "Send a scanning crew on board. I want every part of this ship checked."

"Yes, sir."

"I sense something..." Vader said to himself, gazing back up at the ship, "a presence I haven't felt since..." He trailed off and turned away, exiting the hangar, followed by a pair of stormtroopers.

The officer waited until the imposing sith was halfway across the docking bay before barking orders at the troopers. "Get me a scanning crew in here on the double. I want every part of this ship checked!"


	7. Chapter 7

Alicia stood in a cramped compartment between The Captain and co-pilot of the Falcon, holding her breath and listening to the sounds outside of their hiding place. The footsteps of the troops set her on edge, but more than that, she was very uncomfortable in the small space, and couldn't stop fidgeting. she tried to focus on something other than her discomfort, but couldn't until Andi grabbed her and pulled her face close to his collarbone.

"Stay quiet." He hissed, barely audible, and Alicia realized she was probably hyperventilating rather loudly. She hated small spaces, more than pretty much anything; they reminded her of an incident back on Tatooine where she became trapped in a storage compartment on the skyhopper as a child. She spent the entire night stuck in it until Uncle Owen found her. Andi gently stroked her hair as she hyperventilated into his chest.

The interior of the Millenium Falcon was mostly quiet, save for the footsteps of the troopers moving through the hallway as they performed a manual sweep of the ship. They stopped at the boarding ramp and mumbled to each other before exiting. Andi pulled Alicia away from him and pushed the hair out of her face before giving her a look that said there would be no mention of her episode to the others. Slowly she took a deep breath and nodded, Andi did the same and looked up, listening carefully. The hall was silent and the muffled sounds of a distant officer giving orders finally faded from existence. Suddenly, a large metal panel popped up from the floor, and a pair of hands pushed it out of the way, while a second panel did the same.

Alicia and Andi climbed out of their hiding place, as Anna climbed out of hers. Their legs dangled into the space as they sat on the floor, while Anna hooked her feet on a thick metal brace, allowing her to stand about halfway out. Alicia took another deep breath before speaking lowly. "Boy, it's lucky you had these compartments."

"I use them for smuggling." Andi said, looking rather uncomfortable with the whole of the situation, "I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them." He looked briefly around the hallway before combing a hand through his hair and re-tying his ponytail. "This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam."

Anna tapped her chest, "Leave that to me", Andi groaned and leaned against the wall.

"Damn fool. I knew that you were going to say that!"

The older woman smirked and climbed out of her compartment "Who's the more foolish... the fool or the fool who follows him?" Andi shook his head and grumbled as Emery's head poked up from their compartment, growling out an agreement. The Captain ruffled the Wookiee's fur as Alicia watched the older woman disappear around the bend of the hall.

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Outside the Falcon, a pair of crewmen carried a heavy box up to an officer, who briefly looked at the equipment, while a pair of troopers idled in front of the boarding ramp. "The ship's all yours." the officer spoke, "If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately." The crewmen saluted with their free hands and the officer turned to the other workers around them. "All right, let's go."

The crewmen entered the pirate ship, passing the troopers, who barely glanced at them. Suddenly a loud crash came from onboard, causing the troopers to look up the ramp. "Hey down there," called a voice, "could you give us a hand with this?" The troops shared glances before shrugging and climbing the ramp where they were met with a quick round of blaster fire.

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In a very small command office near the entrance of the pirate ship, a Gantry Officer looked out the window in front of him, noticing that the guards were missing from their positions at the boarding ramp. He huffed and pulled a comlink from his belt, speaking into it. "TK-4-2-1. Why aren't you at your post?" He paused for a response but got none. "TK-4-2-1, do you copy?"

He watched as a stormtrooper came down the ramp of the ship and waved up at him knocking his fist gently against the side of his helmet to his ear indicating his comlink wasn't working. The gantry officer groaned and shook his head in disgust heading for the door. He shot his aid an annoyed look, "Take over. We've got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do."

As the officer approached the door, it slid open to reveal Emeran, followed by another stormtrooper, an old woman, and a pair of droids. The man, in a momentary state of shock, stumbled backward, allowing Emery, with a bone-chilling howl, to get a blow to his head that immediately sent him to the floor, unconscious. The aide reached for his pistol but was blasted by the trooper that accompanied the odd group. Anna ushered the robots into the room as the trooper from the ship ran towards them, joining them in the small room. They pulled their helmet off, revealing themself to be Alicia, who looked rather bitterly at Andi, who had also taken the helmet off his disguise.

"You know, between his howling and your blasting everything in sight, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here!" She spat as Anna closed the door. Andi was equally bitter and cocky, sitting down in the officer's chair.

"Bring them on! I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around."

Q-310 spoke up from the computer against the wall, "We found the computer outlet, Ma'am." Anna turned and fed some information into the computer, and on the monitor pulled up a map of the facility, which she began to carefully inspect while 310 and R0 looked over the control panel. After a few moments, R0 found something and whistled loudly. " Go ahead and plug in." Anna told them, "She should be able to interpret the entire Imperial computer network."

R0 whistled chipperly and punched her claw arm into the computer socket bringing the vast Imperial brain network to life, and began pulling information from it. After a few moments, she twittered out a series of beeps, which 310 translated for them.

"She says she's found the main computer to power the tractor beam that's holding the ship here. She'll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor." As he spoke, R0 turned her arm and the computer monitor flashed several readouts. "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave." 310 explained, and Anna bit the inside of her cheek, studying the data.

"I don't think you kids can help. I must go alone." She finally said, looking at the group. Andi shrugged.

"Whatever you say. I've done more than I bargained for on this trip already." He looked away from her, turning his eyes to the ceiling.

Alicia moved towards her, "I want to go with you." She said, with hints of desperation in her voice, though the reason for the desperation wasn't exactly clear.

"Be patient, Alicia." Anna told her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Stay and watch over the droids. Alicia tried to object, pointing at Andi.

"But he can-"

"They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Your destiny lies along a different path than mine." Anna gave her a reassuring smile and pushed a few loose hairs from the girl's face. "The Force will be with you... always." She adjusted the lightsaber on her belt and silently stepped out of the command office, before disappearing down the long grey hallway. The door closed behind her and Emery barked out a comment causing Andi to shake his head in agreement.

"Boy you said it, Emery," He turned and looked at Alicia, and with dripping sarcasm asked, "Where did you dig up that old fossil?"

"Anna is a great woman." Alicia snapped, and Andi rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, great at getting us into trouble."

"I didn't hear you give any ideas!"

"Well, anything would be better than just hanging around waiting for her to pick us up." Alicia took a step up to him, pointing a finger in his face.

"Hey, who do you think-" She was cut off by R0, who started chittering excitedly, actually hopping back and forth on her support legs. "What is it?" Alicia asked, forgetting about Andi for a moment and walking over to the droids.

310 was a bit hesitant to answer, "I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, miss." He said, "She says 'I found him', and keeps repeating, 'He's here.'"

Alicia tilted her head to the side, confused, "Well, who... who has she found?" The tripod droid whistled, turning her camera in 310's direction.

"Prince Sebastian." The protocol droid translated, and Alicia's eyes widened.

"The prince?" She asked, shocked, "He's here?

Andi sat up and turned the officer's chair to look at them, "Prince? What's going on?"

"Level five. Detention block A A-twenty-three." 310 said, as R0 continued to dive into the Empire's files, "I'm afraid he's scheduled to be terminated."

"Oh, no!" Alicia exclaimed, then turned to Andi, "We've got to do something."

"What are you talking about?"

"The droid belongs to him." Alicia explained, "He's the one in the message- We've got to help him."

Unsure of what she was talking about, and assuming she was a bit mad, Andi pointed at the floor of the observation room, "Now, look, don't get any funny ideas. The old lady wants us to wait right here."

"But she didn't know he was here!" She cried, and turned to 310, "Look, will you just find a way back into the detention block?" Andi leaned back in the chair, putting his arms up and hooking them around his head.

"I'm not going anywhere." He finalized, which only distressed Alicia more.

"They're gonna execute him- Look, a few minutes ago you said you didn't want to just wait here to be captured. Now all you want to do is stay?!"

He sat up again, putting his face in hers, "Marching into the detention area is not what I had in mind!"

"But they're going to kill him!"

Andi turned away, resting his elbows on the control panel he was sitting across from. "Better him than me." Emery watched the human bicker with some amusement. Alicia felt crushed, she couldn't let the prince just be executed, but there was no way she could rescue him all by herself. She needed Andi and Emery's help, and the only way the Wookiee would come was if his Captain came too. That's when she thought of something and leaned close to Andi's ear.

"He's rich."

Emery growled and Andi turned and looked at her. "Rich?" He asked

Alicia nodded, "Rich, powerful- Listen if you were to rescue him, the reward would be..."

He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to give him an example "What?" After a moment her face scrunched up.

"Well more wealth than you can imagine!" 

"I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit."

"You'll get it!" Alicia told him, silently pleading that he'd accept.

"I better."

"You will!"

Andi was silent for a moment before he sighed and turned the chair back around, "All right, kid. But you'd better be right about this." He glanced at Emery, who grunted as if he was laughing. "So. What's your plan?"

Alicia blanked, damn, she hadn't thought of that. Looking around the control room, she spotted a pair of electronic cuffs hanging next to the large computer interface. "Uh... 310, hand me those binders there, will you?" The droid obliged and Alicia looked at Emery, more of her plan formulating. "Okay." She approached the massive Wookiee, "Now, I'm going to put these on you."

Emery yanked his arms away from her, letting out a hideous growl that had Alicia backing quickly away. She didn't break eye contact with Emery as she held the cuffs out to her right. "Okay...uh... Andi, you...you put these on."

Andi smirked a bit, though he tried to hide the amusement that came from his friend scaring the farmgirl as he took the cuffs from her. "Don't worry, Emery." He assured, "I think I know what she has in mind." The Wookiee had a worried and frightened look on his face as Andi hooked the electronic cuffs around his wrists. He spoke quietly to the Wookiee as Alicia walked to the door, only to be stopped by 310 putting a hand on her arm.

"Master Alicia, miss! Pardon me for asking... but," He glanced back at R0, and then at the door, "ah... what should R0 and I do if we're discovered here?"

"Lock the door!" Alicia replied, heading to the control panel and opening it, Andi followed her out as she pulled her helmet on, gently pushing Emery ahead of him.

"And hope they don't have blasters." He said before pulling his own helmet on. The door slid shut, and the sound of their companions' footsteps faded down the hall. All too soon it was silent in the control room, save for R0's processor whirring.

310 broke the silence when he turned to his counterpart. "That isn't very reassuring." He moaned.

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Andi and Alicia stood in a hall, trying to look inconspicuous in their armored suits as they waited for a vacuum elevator to arrive. Troops, bureaucrats, and robots bustled around them, ignoring them completely, save for a few who only shoot some curious glances at Emery.

Finally, the small elevator arrived and the trio climbed inside. "I can't see a thing in this helmet," Alicia said, after clipping her shoulder on the doorway of the elevator. Andi shook his head a little, and Alicia could feel the grin he was giving her. A bureaucrat raced to get aboard as well, but was signaled away by Andi, who mumbled something about a 'dangerous prisoner'. The door to the pod-like vehicle slid closed and the elevator car took off through a vacuum tube.

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In a different hallway, on the opposite side and a different floor of the facility, several Imperial officers walked through a wide main passageway, they passed several stormtroopers and a protocol droid with an insect face. At the far end of the hallway, a passing flash of Anna appears, then disappears down a small passage, so fleeting that it was hard to tell if she was real or just an illusion. No one in the hallway seemed to notice her.

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Back in the elevator, Alicia checked Emery's cuffs, which were actually too small for his wrists and didn't close properly. "This is not going to work," Andi grumbled, checking his gun.

"Why didn't you say so before?" Alicia asked, snapping her head up to look at him.

"I did say so before!" Alicia closed the cuffs as best she could and rolled her eyes under her helmet. The elevator slowed and the pair stepped forward to exit, but the door slid open behind them. After quickly getting over the confusion the giant Wookiee and his two guards entered the old grey security station. Guards and laser gates were everywhere, and an officer looked up as they entered.

"Where are you taking this... thing?" The officer asked, causing Emery to growl a bit but Andi nudged him to shut up, Alicia straightened her posture as much as she could, glanced at Emery, then looked back at the officer with a lie.

"Prisoner transfer from Cell Block 1-1-3-8." She tried to keep her voice steady and the pair looked around the room, there were only three other troopers, and they checked all of the alarms, laser gates, and camera eyes. 

"I wasn't notified." The officer said, "I'll have to clear it." She looked down at her console and started punching in information. Andi waited a few moments before nudging Emery again and suddenly the Wookiee threw up his hands and let out with one of his ear-piercing howls. He grabbed Andi's gun and shoved him against the wall.

"Look out! He's loose!" Andi cried as Emery roared once again, Alicia caught on and added to the chaos.

"He's going to pull us all apart!" She screamed, arming the larger laser weapon she carried, while Andi grabbed the laser pistol hanging from his belt.

"I’ll get him!"

The startled guards were momentarily dumbfounded, and by the time they recognized what was going on, Andi and Alicia were already shooting. Their barrage of laser fire missed Emery and instead hit the cameras and other security implements around the room. The officer was the last of the guards to fall under the laser fire just before she was about to push the alarm system. The woman slumped over the console and Andi ran over to pull her corpse off as an alarm flashed and screamed at him.

"We've got to find out which cell this prince of yours is in." Andi looked at the small monitor on the console, "Here it is... cell 20-1-8-7. You go get him. I'll hold them here."

Alicia nodded and raced down one of the cell corridors, checking the doors for the cell number she needed. Andi turned his attention back to the intercom, pulled off his helmet, and after a moment to compose himself, answered it. "Everything is under control. Situation normal." He tried his best to sound official.

"What happened?" The voice on the other end asked, and he started to get a little nervous.

"Uh... had a slight weapons malfunction." He replied, "But, uh, everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine...We're all fine here, now, thank you. How are you?" He mentally scolded himself, he sounded like an idiot.

"We're sending a squad up." The voice told him, and he quickly tried to find a new and convincing lie.

"Uh, uh, negative. We had a reactor leak here now. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak... very dangerous."

The officer on the other end of the communicator paused before asking, "Who is this? What's your operating number?" Andi looked frantically around before grabbing his blaster off the consol and shooting the comlink, making a small shower of sparks.

"Boring conversation anyway." He commented mostly to himself, then turned and to call down the hallway, "Alicia! We're gonna have company!"

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Alicia stopped in front of one of the cells, reading the number on the panel by the controls: 20-1-8-7. She tapped the door controls and it slid open to reveal the young prince, who was asleep on the cold metal bench against the opposite wall

Sebastian stirred and propped himself up on his elbow, looking at the trooper who had entered like he expected an order or for someone else to come through the door. But Alicia said nothing, only stared with her mouth open in shock at the sight of the handsome man in front of her.

"If it's not too much to ask, I'd really rather be left alone right now." He said, looking away, but when the trooper said nothing, Sebastian raised an eyebrow and looked back over. After a moment of looking the trooper up and down, he spoke again, "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" He almost couldn't help but be sarcastic this time.

Alicia almost didn't understand what he'd said, "Huh? Oh, the uniform!" She tugged her helmet off, her hair falling in her face as she dropped it before looking back up at him, "I'm Alicia Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you!"

"You're who?" The prince asked, shifting and sitting on the edge of the bench.

"I'm here to rescue you," Alicia said again, "I've got your R2 unit. I'm here with Anna Kenobi."

"Anna Kenobi! Where is she?" Sebastian felt relief flood him, the plans had been retrieved, and now had an actual chance of making it to the Resistance.

Alicia gestured for him to follow her, "Come on!" she said, before running out into the hall, followed closely by the prince.

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Darth Vader and Governor Tarkin stood at opposite ends of the conference room, the former with his thumbs tucked into his belt as he looked at the other man. "She is here." He said, and Tarkin looked unconvinced.

"Lura-Rei Kenobi! What makes you think so?"

"A tremor in the Force." Vader replied, "The last time I felt it was in the presence of my old master." 

"Well, surely she must be dead by now." He suggested, but Vader shook his head.

"Don't underestimate the power of the Force." He warned the Governor, walking over to the conference table.

"The Jedi are extinct, their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion." There was a quiet buzz on the comlink, and Tarkin looked down at it before answering. "Yes?"

A woman's voice came through, "Governor Tarkin, we have an emergency alert in detention block A A-twenty-three."

His eyes widened, "The prince! Put all sections on alert!" Vader almost sounded smug.

"Lura-rei is here. The Force is with her."

"If you're right," Takin looked up at Vader, "she must not be allowed to escape." The Sith Lord shook his head.

"Escape is not her plan. I must face her alone."

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An ominous buzzing sound was heard on the other side of the elevator door in the detention level and Andi's eyes widened. "Emery!" The Wookie responded with a growling noise, and Andi gestured for him to move away, "Get behind me! Get behind me!"

A series of explosions knocked a hole in the elevator door, just as Emery moved to the other side of the console. Through the newly formed hole, several Imperial troops began to emerge. The crew of the Falcon began to at them through the smoke and flame, but all too quickly they got overwhelmed and had to retreat down the hallway, where they met up with Alicia and the Prince as laser fire followed them.

"Can't get out that way," Andi said, looking down the hall where they'd come from. Sebastian looked at his small team of rescuers, Andi specifically.

"Looks like you managed to cut off our only escape route." He grumbled, and Andi turned to look at him.

"Maybe you'd like it back in your cell, Your Highness." He snipped as a new round of blaster fire forced them to take cover against the walls of the hallway. Alicia took a small comlink transmitter from her belt as Andi and Emery covered them and kept the troopers from coming towards them.

"Q-310! Q-310!"

The droid's voice came through, "Yes miss?"

"Are there any other ways out of the cell bay? We've been cut off!" He said something, but a laser blast struck close to her head, the explosion covering his response, "What was that? I didn't copy!"

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310 paced back and forth in the control center as little R0 beeped and whistled as she dug around in the computer systems. "I said, all systems have been alerted to your presence, miss." He spoke louder, "The main entrance seems to be the only way in or out; all other information on your level is restricted!"

Someone began banging on the door. "Open up in there!" Came a voice from the other side.

"Oh, no!"

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Andi, Alicia, and Emery were barely able to keep the stormtroopers at bay at the far end of the hallway. The laser fire was so intense that smoke completely filled the narrow cell corridor.

"There isn't any other way out!" Alicia told them, and Andi growled.

"I can't hold them off forever! Now what?"

"This is some rescue!" Sebastian noted, "When you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?!"

Andi jerked his head at Alicia, "She's the brains, sweetheart!" the prince looked at her and she tried to come up with something.

"Well, I didn't-" The prince cut her off by grabbing her gun, he looked around quickly and then fired at a small grate in the wall next to Andi, almost frying him.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked as Sebastian pushed off the wall.

"Somebody has to save our skins." He shouted over the commotion, shooting down the hall before shoving Alicia's gun back at her. "Into the garbage chute, flyboy!" He jumped through the narrow opening as Andi and Emery looked on in amazement, it's short-lived as the blaster fire continues to land around them. Emery approached to follow him but stopped short.

"Get in there!" Andi yelled, but the Wookiee just growled out a complaint, "Get in there you big furry oaf! I don't care what you smell!" Emery stuck his arm and head through, and Andi kicked him in the butt, tipping him down into the chute, "Get in there and don't worry about it!" He called after the Wookiee.

The fight continues as Alicia tries to get across the hall to the opening. "Wonderful guy!" Andi notes with sarcasm, "Either I'm going to kill him or I'm beginning to like him." Alicia looked from Andi to the incoming stormtroopers, and Andi managed to give her an opening, "Get in there!" He shouted, and Alicia ducked laser fire as she jumped into the darkness. 

Andi fired off more quick blasts to create a smokey cover, then jumped headfirst disappearing into the garbage chute with a triumphant shout.


	8. Chapter 8

Andi tumbled into a large room filled with garbage and muck, where the rest of his companions stood with various levels of irritation and dread on their faces. Alicia was stumbling around looking for an exit as the smuggler tried to get his bearings. Prince Sebastian stood atop a pile of garbage along the wall to the left of a hatch that Emery stood in front of and was attempting to open.

"Oh! The garbage chute was a really wonderful idea!" Andi told Sebastian when he finally wasn't tripping over his own feet. "What an incredible smell you've discovered!" The prince shot a glare in the smuggler's direction, before looking to Alicia as if asking if he was always like this. Andi looked at his Wookiee companion, and the hatch he was attempting to open, "Let's get out of here." He grumbled, waving Emery out of the way, "Get away from there."

Alicia turned just in time to see him raise his gun, "No! wait!" She cried, reaching towards him, but it was too late. The laser bolt ricocheted wildly around the small metal room, making them all dive for cover. The bolt bounced off the walls for several agonizing seconds before finding its way into the murky water that covered the rest of the garbage under their feet.

The smoke settled and one by one they all were again standing. "Will you forget it? I already tried it. It's magnetically sealed!" Alicia shouted before their ears stopped ringing, and Andi glared at her like he was about to retort when Sebastian added to the shouting.

"Put that thing away!" He scolded, climbing back up onto the garbage pile, "You're gonna get us all killed!" The smuggler turned his anger to the young Prince, sarcasm dripping from his mouth.

"Absolutely, Your Worship." Andi mocked a bow before jabbing a finger at him, "Look, I had everything under control until you led us down here." He huffed and turned away, "You know, it's not going to take them long to figure out what happened to us."

"It could be worse," Sebastian informed him, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly a loud, horrible, inhuman moan echoed off the walls from the depths of the murky water. Emery let out a terrified howl and pressed himself up against the hatch, while Andi and Alicia readied their blasters. The noise disappeared and silence settled, which only made them more anxious.

"Congratulations," Andi told the prince, "It's worse."

"There's something alive in here!" Alicia said nervously, looking around the room.

"That's your imagination," Andi told her, turning back to the door and making to walk towards it when the farmgirl squealed.

"Something just moves past my leg!" She cried, pointing into the murky water, "Look! Did you see that?"

"See what?"

The pair tried to spot whatever it was she'd felt, but the water was too dark to see through. More inhuman sounds echoed off the walls and the movement of the pair of humans moving in the water covered the sound of the creature moving closer. Suddenly, a slimy tentacle wrapped itself around Alicia's leg, and before anyone could react, yanked her under the water with a scream.

"Alicia?! Alicia!" Andi leapt forward, discarding his weapon on a pile of trash to plunge his hands into the water, trying to grab her and pull her back up, "Alicia!" The silence returned as he watched for ripples, only broken by Emery's howls from the door. Then Alicia resurfaced with a gasp of air and thrashing of limbs, the tentacle now wrapped around her throat.

"Alicia!" Sebastian cried, holding a long pipe out to her, "Alicia! Here, grab a hold of this!" She reached for it with her free hand, while trying to shoot the creature with her blaster.

"Blast it, will you! My gun's jammed!" She cried, attempting to pull the tentacle from her throat.

Andi grabbed his blaster from the garbage and searched the water for a target, "Where?!"

"Anywhere!" Alicia snapped. 

Solo fired his gun downward, which seemed to work, allowing Alicia to stand, only to be pulled headfirst back down into the muck. "Alicia!" Sebastian and Andi shouted, as the latter once again tried to grab her.

Suddenly, with a loud creak, the walls of the garbage receptacle shuddered and moved in a couple of inches before a deadly silence overtook them. Andi and Sebastian looked up each other with worried expressions as Emery howled in the corner. Then, with a rush of bubbles and muck Alicia suddenly bobbed to the surface, gasping for air.

"Help her!" Sebastian exclaimed, noting that the creature seemed to have released her, "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Alicia croaked, clutching her throat, "it just let go of me and disappeared..."

"I've got a very bad feeling about this."

Before anyone could say anything else the walls began to rumble and edge toward the Rebels. "The walls are moving!" Alicia cried, and Andi summoned more sarcasm to shoot her a look saying 'Thank you for pointing it out'.

"Don't just stand there! Try to brace it with something!" Sebastian said, grabbing a long metal pole and attempting to jam it between the walls. The others did the same, but they were simply snapped and bent as the giant trash masher rumbled on.

"Help me!" Sebastian cried, and Andi splashed over to help him lift a large metal pole.

Suddenly, Alicia remembered something, "Wait a minute!" She reached down to her belt and grabbed the comlink, turning it on, "310! Come in 310!" She waited a moment but got no response, the walls steadily closing in on them, "310?! Where could he be?

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The soft buzz and the muted voice of Alicia calling out for Q-310 on his comlink went unheard, as it sat discarded on the computer console, the droids were nowhere in sight. Suddenly there was a great explosion and the door of the control tower flew across the floor, letting four armed troopers enter.

"Take over!" The first said to the others, pointing to the officers lying dead in the corner, "See to them! And you, look there!"

One of the troopers pushed a button, opening a supply cabinet, revealing 310 and R0. The protocol droid looked between the troopers before walking out past them, followed closely by his counterpart. "They're madmen!" He cried, "They're heading for the prison level. If you hurry, you might catch them."

The trooper in charge considered the droid's words, then looked to his men, "Follow me! You stand guard." He ordered, quickly exiting the command office, leaving one trooper behind to stand guard.

310 grabbed the comlink off the computer console and made his way towards the door, gesturing for R0 to follow him, "Come on." He said, starting past the trooper, who pointed his blaster at him. 310 looked down at the weapon, then up at the soldier. "All this excitement has overrun the circuits of my counterpart here. If you don't mind, I'd like to take her down to maintenance."

He looked at them, they weren't droids he recognized, but then again, who was he to question what types of droids the empire used? Perhaps they belonged to Lord Vader, in which case he found it best to let them pass, he didn't want to be on the bad side of a Sith Lord. "All right." The trooper nodded, lowering his weapon and allowing them to pass.

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As the walls of the garbage compactor rumbled closed and the room got smaller and smaller, the living creatures trapped inside grew more desperate in their attempts to stop the walls from moving. Emery whined as he tried to push back on one of the walls, while Andi pulled himself out from under a growing mountain of trash. Garbage snapped and popped as Alicia tried to reach 310.

"310!" She cried desperately, "Come in, 310! 310!"

Andi and Sebastian grabbed a pole that hadn't been buried and tried to brace the walls when the prince started to be buried under the rising garbage and muck. "Get to the top!" Andi told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him.

"I can't!" Sebastian replied, slipping and struggling not to get stuck.

Alicia continued to try and reach the droids. "Where could he be? 310! 310, will you come in?"

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310 and R0 tucked themselves in by a computer port across from the Millenium Falcon, and the protocol droid looked around for their companions, "They aren't here! Something must have happened to them." He turned to R0, "See if they've been captured."

'Way ahead of you' R0 beeped, plugging herself into the port and accessing the Death Star systems once again. 

"Hurry!"

'Rush me, and I'll permanently shut your legs off the next time you ask me to do maintenance'

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The walls were only feet apart and were all too steadily getting closer. "Well, one thing's for sure, we're all gonna be a lot thinner," Andi remarked in either a feeble attempt to make light of the situation, or to use his wit as a coping mechanism for stress. Sebastian attempted to climb up over the garbage but slipped. "Get on top of it!" Andi said, helping him and getting his legs trapped between the trash in the process.

"I'm trying!"

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'I can't find them anywhere. No one's seen them since they disappeared from the prison level.' R0 trilled, 'I'll keep looking but it would have been a large alert.'

"Thank goodness, they haven't found them! Oh, where could they be?"

'Wait a minute, didn't Alicia give you a communicator? Why the hell haven't you tried that yet?!'

"Use the comlink?" He sounded confused, and R0 wished she had hands so she could slap some sense into him. "Oh, my! I forgot I turned it off!" R0 would have rolled her eyes if she had any, and  _ then _ she would have slapped him.

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Sebastian was braced against one wall, while Andi struggled to free his legs from where they were pinned by trash, fear was clear in the prince's eyes, and growing in the smuggler's. They looked at each other and Sebastian reached out to Andi, who took his hand and held it tightly, with his free hand, Andi continued fruitlessly to try and push the walls back. Meanwhile, Alicia was almost lying on her side, half-buried in garbage, trying to keep her head above the rising ooze, the comlink in her hand buzzed, and she frantically answered it.

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Muffled sounds from Alicia's end made it through, but it was difficult to hear anything distinct.

"Are you there, miss?" 310 asked.

Alicia's voice properly came through, desperate and irritated, but relieved, "Threepio!"

"We've had some problems-" He was cut off quickly.

"Will you shut up and listen to me? Shut down all garbage mashers on the detention level, will you? Do you copy?"

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The pressure from the walls closing in finally struck them, and Alicia once again shouted to "Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!"

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"Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!" Alicia's voice came through for the third time, sounding far more desperate, and 310 looked to R0, who had asked him for a number.

"No. Shut them all down! Hurry!" He cried, and R0 her camera face back to the port. Incredible screaming and hollering came from the communicator, and 310 looked at it in horror. They were too late.

"Listen to them! They're dying, R0!" He moaned, "Curse my metal body! I wasn't fast enough. It's all my fault! My poor master!"

Over the shouting, Alicia's voice came through, "310, we're all right!"

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The screaming and hollering was actually the sound of joyous relief, as with a last clang and thunk, the walls had stopped moving. With help from Emery, Andi climbed out from under the garbage, and the three of them embraced.

"We're all right. You did great!" Alicia cried, "Hey-hey, open the pressure maintenance hatch on unit number-where are we?"

Andi moved to the door and located the number before shouting towards Alicia and the communicator, "Three-two-six-three-eight-two-seven!"

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Across the Death Star, Anna entered a humming service trench, where one of the terminals powering the tractor beam resided. The trench was deep, possibly hundreds of miles, and there was not a single safety measure to prevent someone from falling down the shaft. The clacking sound of huge switching devices, as well as a low hum from the transfer of power, echoed through the space as the old Jedi edged her way along a narrow ledge, leading to a control panel. 

She looked over the console, tracking the tubing filled with wires to determine which would power down the terminal. After a moment she slowly pulled down levers and flipped switches, causing lights on the console to turn from red to blue, and the dull hum rose and then lowered in pitch.

Suddenly a door to the right of Anna slid open and a detachment of stormtroopers marched to the power trench. She instantly slipped into the shadows as an Officer moved to stand mere feet from her.

"Secure this area until the alert is canceled." The officer ordered, "Give me regular reports." He gestured to the other troopers and one by one they turned and left, leaving two troopers alone.

"Do you know what's going on?" One asked the other, who shrugged.

"Maybe it's another drill."

Anna moved silently around the terminal, watching the stormtroopers as they turned their backs to her. As an extra precaution, Anna gestured with her hand toward them, causing them to hear something clang from the hallway where they'd come from. 

"What was that?" One of the stormtroopers asked, gesturing towards the supposed noise. Behind them, Anna properly came out from behind the terminal and slipped down the hall to the left, returning to the main passageway.

The other trooper looked at his companion, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

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The hatch of the trash compactor stood open to an empty, unused hallway as Andi and Alicia pulled themselves out of their disguises and tossed the armor into the compactor. Sebastian leaned against the wall, trying to squeeze as much water from his clothes as possible. The euphoria of escaping death had finally faded from them all, leaving Sebastian angry. He was wet and smelled like garbage, and his robes, once the pristine white of the Alderannian senate, were torn, and dirty. It was a final insult to his people, the last thing he really had of home, ruined forever.

Andi's attitude about the situation only soured his mood more. "If we can just avoid any more princely advice, we ought to be able to get out of here." Sebastian glared at him, watching as Alicia hid a smile and scratched her head, taking her blaster from the smuggler. Great, even she was finding this funny.

"Well, let's get moving!" The farmgirl said, stretching and taking a step away from where they'd gathered. She didn't make it far before Emery let out a growl which turned into a whining howl as he pointed into the garbage room. The humans all turned to watch as the imposing Wookie ran away from the hatch like a frightened child.

"Where are you going?" Andi asked in a sharp tone, before looking back at the hatch, where something bagged against the open door. He looked down to find the tentacle of the creature that had grabbed Alicia creeping out of the garbage masher, searching for something or someone to grab. He scoffed at it in disgust and raised his blaster.

"No, wait. They'll hear!" Sebastian cried, stepping towards the smuggler in an attempt to stop him, but it was too late as Andi fired at the doorway. The noise of the blast echoed relentlessly throughout the empty passageway, Alicia simply shook her head in disgust.

Andi rounded on his friend, who was cowering in a corner, he took a step forward and motioned for the Wookiee to get closer, "Come here, you big coward!" But the Wookiee refused, shaking his head. "Emery! Come here!"

"Alright, listen," Sebastian spoke up, drawing the man's attention away, "I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but from now on, you do as I tell you. Okay?" Andi looked stunned at the command from the young prince and looked to Alicia, who simply looked away as if to say, 'you dug this hole'.

The prince turned and started down the hallway, prompting Emery to do the same just ahead of him. Andi shot another glance at Alicia before quickly following him, "Look, Your Worshipfulness, let's get one thing straight! I take orders from one person! Me!" He pointed a finger at his chest and Sebastian scoffed, looking him up and down.

"It's a wonder you're still alive." He offered up his own sarcasm, feeling far too proud of the look he put on the older man's face. Now he wanted nothing but to be farther away from this ragtag group of so-called 'rescuers'. He looked up at the towering Wookiee in front of him, "Will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way?"

Andi looked utterly dumbfounded, gesturing after the young prince. "No reward is worth this." Alicia shrugged, holding back laughter as they all followed after the prince who was quickly disappearing around a corner.

The group ran down an empty hallway and stopped in front of a bay window overlooking the Millenium Falcon. "There she is," Andi said fondly, looking down at his beloved ship, and Sebastian looked out at it as well. 

"Q-310, do you copy?" Alicia asked from behind them, and then the old protocol droid's voice came through.

"For the moment, miss. We're in the main hangar across from the ship." Sebastian was glad to hear his voice, having a chance to finally be relieved that the droid had escaped the attack on the starship.

"We're right above you." Alicia told him, "Stand by."

Andi watched as troopers moved in and out of the ship, trying to think of a way to get them away so the group could enter and escape when he felt a hand on his arm. He turned and looked at Sebastian, who look looked at him with something between disbelief and impression. "You came in that thing?" He asked, sizing the older man up once again, "You're braver than I thought."

The insult at the end of his sentence hung in the air between them, and Andi scowled, walking away from the window. "Come on!" He snapped, gesturing for the others to follow him.

As they once again began moving, Sebastian wondered why everything was so quiet. The Empire were smarter than this, it wouldn't be difficult for them to locate the group now that they weren't in the trash compactor anymore. Why hadn't they run into anyone yet? Why hadn't someone set off any alarms? As if reading his mind, they rounded the corner and came face to face with twenty Imperial stormtroopers heading right toward them.

"It's them! Blast them!" One of the troopers shouted, and the soldiers began arming their weapons. Before even thinking, Andi drew his laser pistol and fired, sending one of the troopers to the floor, dead. The captain, followed closely by Emery, charged at the incoming stormtroopers, who turned tail and ran.

"Get back to the ship!" Andi shouted behind him as he ran full speed after the soldiers.

"Where are you going? Come back!" Alicia cried, but it was too late, they had already disappeared around a corner.

Sebastian looked after them with wide eyes, "He certainly has courage." He said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Alicia was furious, this idiot and his Wookiee were the only ones who really knew how to fly the Falcon, and now they were gone. "Yeah, what good will it do us if he gets himself killed?" She huffed, looking up as lights began flashing, and a distant alarm began going off. "Come on!" She took his hand and started running in the direction of the hangar bay.

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Andi chased the stormtroopers down a long sub hallway, shouting wildly and brandishing his laser pistol like a madman. The troops reached another squadron of soldiers and turned back to face the coming smuggler. He skidded to a stop a few feet from them and assumed a defensive position. The troops he'd chased, as well as the new squadron, raised their blasters and assumed an attack position in front of the lone star pirate. Andi's determined look quickly faded and was replaced with terror as the troops began to advance on him.

Emeran ran down the sub hallway in a last-ditch attempt to save his bold captain when suddenly he heard the firing of laser guns and frantic yelling. Around the corner came Andoni Solo, pirate extraordinaire, running for his life, followed by a host of furious stormtroopers. The Wookiee howled something indecent as he turned around and began running away as well.

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Alicia fired her laser pistol wildly as she and Sebastian rushed down a narrow sub hallway, chased by several stormtroopers. They quickly reached the end of the sub hallway and ran through an open hatchway onto a narrow bridge that spans a huge, deep shaft. Looking down, it seemed that the shaft went on to infinity, the bridge had been retracted into the wall of the shaft, and Alicia almost ran right off the ledge into the abyss. She lost her balance off the end of the bridge but Sebastian quickly grabbed the back of her tunic and yanked her back.

"I think we took a wrong turn." Alicia gasped, grabbing the cloth above her heart. There was no time to turn back, as blasts from the stormtroopers' laser guns exploded nearby, reminding them of the oncoming danger. Alicia turned and fired back at the advancing troops, while the prince spotted, something and reached over, hitting a switch that sends the hatch door down with a resounding boom, leaving them precariously perched on a short piece of bridge overhang. Laser fire from the oncoming troopers continued to hit the steel door.

Sebastian searched the panel for something to keep the door shut, but couldn't find anything, "There's no lock!" He cried, and Alicia turned and blasted the door controls, pushing the prince against the door and out of the way.

"That oughta hold it for a while."

"Quick, we've got to get across. Find the controls that extend the bridge."

Alicia looked around, her eyes falling on the damaged panel, dread filled her, "I think I just blasted it." She looked at the blasted bridge controls, trying to think of something, while the stormtroopers on the opposite side of the door began making ominous drilling and pounding sounds.

"They're coming through!" The prince cried, and Alicia noticed something on the utility belt she'd taken from her stormtrooper uniform. Suddenly laser fire landed on the wall behind her. She aimed her blaster at a stormtrooper perched on a higher bridge overhang across the abyss from them, exchanging fire. Two more troops appeared on a different overhang, also firing down at them.

One of the troopers was hit by Alicia's laser fire and plummeted down the shaft, which puts enough fear into the other that they move back off the bridge. "Here, hold this," Alicia said, handing the blaster off to Sebastian.

She pulled a thin nylon cable from her trooper utility belt with a grappler hook attached to the end of it. A trooper appeared on a bridge overhang and fired at the young pair as Alicia pulled more and more of the cord from her belt. More troopers appeared as Sebastian continued the firefight. Suddenly, the hatch door began to open, revealing the feet of more troops.

"Here they come!" He told her, hitting one of the stormtroopers on the bridge above, causing him to fall into the abyss with a final scream. Alicia tossed the rope across the gorge and it wrapped itself around an outcropping of pipes, with a few hard tugs on the rope to make sure it is secure, she grabbed the prince. "Hold on tight." She warned, and Sebastian did so, pressing a quick kiss onto her cheek. She looked at him, shocked.

"For luck!" He said before the door shifted again, bringing them back to reality. Alicia pushed off and they swung across the treacherous abyss to the corresponding hatchway on the opposite side. Just as they reached the stable ground on the far side of the canyon, the stormtroopers broke through the hatch and began to fire at the escaping duo. Sebastian returned fire as Alicia detached the cord from her belt, and they disappeared into the sub hallway behind them.


	9. Chapter 9

Anna hid in the shadows of a narrow passageway as several stormtroopers rushed past her. "We think they may be splitting up," One of the troopers told the others, "They may be on level five and six." They turned a corner and left the hall abandoned, which allowed Anna to slip from her hiding place and run in the opposite direction, pulling her lightsaber from her belt.

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Down in the main forward bay, where the droids had hidden themselves almost an hour ago, Q-310 poked his head around a pillar of computers and looked around at the troops milling about the entry ramp of the Falcon. Their companions nowhere in sight.

"Oh, where could they be?" He asked, turning to look back at R0, who plugged back into the computer socket.

'I'll see if they've sent out any alerts, but it would be better if we didn't hear anything at all.'

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Andi and Emery ran down a long corridor with several troopers hot on their trail, and the occasional laser blast flying past them.

"Close the blast doors!" A trooper shouted, and Andi turned and shot him. Starting up a new round of blaster fire, while at the end of the hallway, blast doors began to close in front of them. His furry companion raced past the huge doors just as they began closing, while Andi fired more shots at the oncoming troops. Just before the doors closed, he hopped through, narrowly avoiding being shot.

"Open the blast doors!" A trooper shouted as the group halted, "Open the blast doors!"

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Anna hurried along one of the tunnels leading to the hangar where the Falcon waited but slowed when she heard a familiar sound. The coarse mechanical sound of breathing through a mask, and when she rounded the corner she saw him. Not ten feet from her stood Darth Vader, his lightsaber ignited, and pointing at the floor, like he knew just where she would be. She held her own lightsaber out and waited.

The imposing Sith Lord smirked under his helmet and approached, and Anna activated her lightsaber, the elegant yellow blade extending before her as her former apprentice grew closer. "I've been waiting for you, Lura-Rei." His deep voice sounded nothing like the young man she had once trained, "We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete."

He raised his saber, and she assumed an offensive position with elegant ease. The two Galactic warriors stood perfectly still for a few moments, sizing each other up and waiting for the right moment. Anna seemed to be under increasing pressure and strain as if an invisible weight were being placed upon her. She shook her head ever so slightly and blinked, trying to clear her eyes. "When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master," Vader told her, taking a defensive position.

"Only a master of evil, Darth," Anna replied making a sudden lunge at the huge warrior, which he countered before making his own strike. It was tentative on both their parts, they were testing the waters as they slashed and deflected each other's blows, sparks flew as they hit the walls rather than each other, and after a while, they pulled away, now standing where the other had stood when the fight began.

Once again they stood across from each other without attacking. "Your powers are weak, old woman." Vader taunted, but Anna only smirked.

"You can't win, Darth," She simply replied, "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." She lunged forward with her saber, and they once again resumed their dance of a fight.

"You should not have come back," Vader growled, and Anna's expression turned stern, their sabers clashing and crashing together, the hum of the blades as loud as the Sith Lord's quickened breathing. This was no longer a tiptoeing fight, but it seemed that neither of them was willing or perhaps neither were able to turn it into a full-on duel.

Slowly, Vader began a series of lunges towards his former master that sent her backing down the hallway.

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Down an offshoot of the main hangar bay, Andi and Emery, their weapons in hand, leaned back against the wall, watching the Imperial stormtroopers make their rounds of the hangar. "Didn't we just leave this party?" Andi huffed, and Emery growled something witty in reply. They turned their heads at the sound of approaching footsteps but were relieved to see that it was just Alicia and the prince. "What kept you?" 

"We, uh, ran into some old friends." Alicia snipped dismissively, looking out the door a few feet ahead of them. "Is the ship all right?" They all tried to catch their breath.

"Seems okay, if we can get to it. Just hope the old girl got the tractor beam out of commission."

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Vader and Kenobi's duel continued, with tensions rising every moment, every hit made lighting flash off their sabers as Vader seemingly grew angrier and angrier, backing his old master further and further down the main hall towards the hangar bay. Troopers looked on in interest as the old Jedi and Dark Lord of The Sith fought and after a moment, they left their posts in front of the Falcon to watch the battle closer, and aid the Sith if he needed it. 

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"Look!" Alicia gasped, as they watched the stormtroopers quickly run across the hangar.

From the other side of the docking bay, 310 and R0 watched the same thing, ducking behind a wall as the troopers passed them. "Come on, R0, we're going!" He said once they had their backs to the hidden droids. She whistled and put out her third leg, wheeling after 310 as the sound of clashing lightsabers truly filled the air.

Andi watched as the last stormtrooper disappeared from view, "Now's our chance! Go!" He whispered, and they began to run to the ship, meeting the droids halfway.

Alicia and Sebastian were both drawn in by the sound of the battle and looked across the hangar in mild horror. "Anna?" Alicia asked softly, breaking away from the group to look closer at the fight. Anna looked at the troops that had gathered, she was trapped and she knew it. There was no possible way for her to hold Vader off and make it through the soldiers at the same time. 

The old Jedi Knight then looked past the troopers, to Alicia, offering her a soft, and resigned smile, as if to say it would be alright. Then, her smile turning to a smirk, she looked back at Vader, pulling her weapon away and holding it up in front of her like a staff, closing her eyes and taking one last breath in.

Vader swung his sword across, cutting the old woman in half, her cloak falling to the floor in pieces, her lightsaber landing closed on top of it. Anna's body had vanished completely. 

"No!"

The sound of Alicia's cry echoed throughout the hangar and alerted the stormtroopers, who turned and began firing at her and the others. The robots were already moving up the ramp into the Millennium Falcon, R0 squealing something about bowing their cover, while Alicia stood transfixed with anger and awe. Solo returned the trooper's fire as Vader poked at the empty cloak, momentarily confused by the disappearing act the came with Kenobi's death. Alicia's emotions finally made her body move, and she joined in the firefight. 

"Come on!" Andi shouted to Alicia, trying to usher the prince up the ramp as he blasted almost blindly. But Sebastian called out to the farmgirl as well.

"Come on! Alicia, it's too late!" Sebastian wanted to drag her onto the ship himself, but before he could even move Andi shoved him up the ramp. Alicia shot a glance at them.

"Blast the door, kid!"

Alicia fired her pistol at the door control panel, and it exploded with sparks, the door beginning to slide shut. The troopers charged forward, firing laser bolts as the door slid to a close behind them, shutting the approaching Vader out of the docking bay. A stormtrooper lied dead at the feet of his onrushing compatriots. Alicia started for the advancing troops, firing blindly through tears, as Solo and the prince disappeared onto the ship.

She would take on the empire single-handedly if she had to. They had taken her family, her home, and now her teacher, the only one who could guide her in the ways of the force, away from her. She didn't care if the others left her behind, she didn't have anything else to fight for.

"Run, Alicia." A voice called out to her, but it wasn't from the ship and her companions, it seemed to come from everywhere around her, over the gunfire, "Run!" It called, and she felt something pulling her, urging her to the Falcon. Taking heed of the voice's words, she turned and ran.

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Andi sat his blaster aside as he climbed into his seat beside Emery in the cockpit. The Wookiee adjusted his controls as the ship came to life. "I hope that old lady got that tractor beam out of commission, or this is going to be a real short trip." He said, grabbing ahold of his controls, "Okay, hit it!" Emery growled in agreement and pulled a lever.

The Millennium Falcon powered away from the Death Star docking bay, making a spectacular turn and blasting towards the vastness of space.

Emery turned to his captain and growled, bringing an almost amused look to his face as they continued to fly away from the enormous space station.

Alicia and Sebastian sat at the table in the main hold, out of breath and exhausted. Sebastian knew the look in her eyes, he was sure that his own eyes were as full of despair. The robots watched on as the prince grabbed a blanket from nearby and wrapped it around Alicia's shoulders, he understood loss, far too well, but he suspected it was something new to the farmgirl, and his own pain could afford to wait.

In the cockpit, Solo spotted something in the distance and stood from his chair, flipping switches and turning knobs the whole time, sending whistles and long beeps out as the machinery adjusted. "We're coming up on the sentry ships." He told Emery, "Hold 'em off! Angle the deflector shields while I charge up the main guns!"

Alicia looked downward sadly, shaking her head, she didn't know what to do. Sebastian sat beside her, rubbing her shoulder with his thumb. "I can't believe she's gone." She said softly, and R0 chirped. 

'No one's really gone, kid.' It was a nice thought, but the humans didn't understand droid. "There wasn't anything you could have done." Sebastian said, "Vader would have killed you too."

The sound of footsteps clanking across the floor alerted them to Andi's presence as he ran in from the cockpit. "Come on, buddy, we're not out of this yet." He said, gesturing for Alicia to follow him as he climbed a ladder to the topside gun port on the falcon.

She only hesitated for a moment, before pulling the blanket off and handing it back to the prince with a quick "Thank you". She climbed down the ladder into the gunport cockpit, settling in, quickly familiarizing herself with the controls, and grabbing a headset form nearby, while above her, Solo adjusted his own headset.

"You in, kid?" He listened to her reply and smirked, "Okay, stay sharp." They flicked controls and watched the heavens for movement, while Sebastian sat the blanket down and ran to the cockpit to help Emery and see what was happening.

Everyone sat silently as computers blipped and the ship rocked and bounced, suddenly, Emery barked, and Sebastian's eyes widened at the sight of oncoming TIE fighters. "Here they come!" The prince spoke into the intercom in front of him.

The mechanical screams of the incoming TIE fighters could only just be heard inside the Falcon as they swooped and dived in their approach. The leader, who was closest, fired his ship's blasters and landed a hit, rocking the Falcon and causing the lights to flicker.

A TIE fighter maneuvered in front of Andi, who followed it and fires at it with the laser cannon, Alicia did likewise, as a different fighter streaked into view.

"They're coming in too fast!" Alicia cried as she shot at yet another incoming fighter.

A laser bolt streaked into the side of the pirate ship, causing it to lurch violently, and for 310 to hit a wall with a cry on his way to the cockpit.

"We've lost lateral controls," Sebastian spoke into the intercom, as Emery did his best to keep the ship moving steadily.

"Don't worry, she'll hold together." Andi's voice came through, while elsewhere, a new blow caused sparks to shower with a loud boom.

From his gunport, Andi looked at his ship, "You hear me, baby? Hold together."

R0 advanced toward the smoking and sparking panel, dousing the inferno by spraying it with fire retardant, beeping all the while about how _this_ was something she was used to.

Lasers continue to fire, and the Falcon continued to shake, the TIE fighters slipping just out of reach of the laser cannons for several tense minutes. At his port, Andi followed a fighter that had come too close, quickly firing off a round of cannon blasts that finally landed, blowing the ship away in a magnificent explosion. His triumphant laugh could be heard by Alicia even without the headset.

Two TIE fighters moved toward and over the Millennium Falcon, unleashing a barrage of laser bolts at the ship. While the third moved in too close to Alicia's cannon, she waited just long enough and fired, landing her first hit and sending the ship up in sparks.

"Got him! I got him!" She looked back at Andi, who turned and gave her a victory wave which she gleefully returned.

"Great kid! Don't get cocky," Andi turned back to his laser cannon as the ship was rocked by another blast from one of the remaining fighters.

"There are still two more of them out there!" Sebastian told them, as they streaked past the cockpit window. Andi and Alicia looked onto their respective projected target screens. An Imperial fighter crossed Solo's port, and he swiveled in his chair, following it with blasts from his laser cannon. Another fighter crossed Alicia and she reacted similarly, the glow of her target screen lighting her face.

As one fighter disappeared, Alicia fired a laser blast at the other, which had stayed in her sights, causing it to burst into a spectacular explosion. Her projected screen gives a readout of the hit as the ship once again was rocked by blasts from their attacker.

Solo swiveled behind his cannon, his aim describing the arc of the TIE fighter. The fighter came closer, firing at the pirate ship with intent to take out the cannon, but a well-aimed blast from Solo landed, sending the final fighter up in a shower of atomic fragments. Solo slumped in his chair with a heavy sigh, pulling his headset off and wiping sweat from his brow.

"That's it! We did it!" Alicia exclaimed through a laugh, before she pulled her headset off and followed Andi out of the gunports, adrenaline rushing through her veins and making her giddy.

In the cockpit, the prince jumped up out of his seat and wrapped his arms around Emery in a congratulatory hug with an ecstatic cry of "We did it!"

310 lied on the floor of the passageway to the cockpit, completely tangled in a mess of smoking, sparking wires. "Help!" He shouted, "I think I'm melting!" He looked to R0, who began pulling and untangling the wires, "This is all your fault."

'Sure, blame me for all your problems, not like you cause any yourself.' She replied as the Falcon accelerated away from the Death Star.

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Darth Vader strode confidently into the control room, where Tarkin stood watching the huge view screen, a sea of stars laid before him.

"Are they away?" Tarkin asked, pulling his eyes from the screen to look at the Sith Lord.

"They have just made the jump into hyperspace."

"You're sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship? I'm taking an awful risk, Vader. This had better work."


	10. Announcement

_ **This is a temporary chapter that will be removed at a later date.** _

Now that I have reached a total of nine chapters, I plan on going back and editing them. There is content I want to add, and there are much-needed fixes to be made. When I have finished editing these nine chapters I shall delete this announcement chapter and the story shall resume.

I'm fully aware that I could have made notes in an existing chapter, but I felt like this would be a better, more visible way to explain my plan.


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